Oldham Nurse hopes Covid-19 vaccine will allow her back on frontline

An Oldham nurse who was the first person in the local NHS to get the Covid-19 vaccine says she hopes it will allow her to return to the frontline after months of shielding.

Irene Shepherd, a practice nurse at Hopwood House Practice on Lees Road for the past five years received her jab on the evening of Monday, December 14.

She qualified as a nurse in 1991 and has spent her entire career working within the NHS, and prior to her current practice she worked at Leesbrook Surgery on Mellor Street.

However Irene, who lives in Royton with her husband, has nephrotic syndrome which affects her kidneys.

She received a kidney transplant, and has been treated with immunosuppressants over the past ten years.

This means she was classed as ‘clinically vulnerable’ and began shielding from March 16, which kept her off the frontline to protect her from becoming seriously ill from the virus.

Irene hopes that following her second dose of the vaccine she will be able to get back to treating patients face to face, something she has been missing in the last eight months.

“I have never allowed my condition to stop me doing anything in life and work before, but thankfully I have had so much support from the GP practice that I have been able to carry on working from home,” she said.

“It’s been a challenging time. We are just so thankful that I got the opportunity to get the vaccine.

“I am waiting to speak to my renal consultant and I believe that my immunity will be there within a couple of weeks after my second dose and I am then hoping to return into an environment where it can be face to face safely.”

She received the vaccine at Greenbank Medical Practice – which is Oldham’s inaugural vaccination centre – and was the first member of health and care staff in the borough to get the jab.

“To be able to go back to that workplace – the only way that was going to happen was to get the Covid vaccine,” Irene added.

“I love meeting people, I have got a really strong network in the surgery and not seeing my colleagues has been really difficult.

“I miss patients and I miss chatting to them. Wishing somebody somebody all the best for Christmas over the phone, when it’s somebody you’ve have seen for years and built that relationship – you wish you were there for them in person.

“I am absolutely, incredibly excited about getting back into the workplace.”

Irene, who turned 50 during lockdown, said the vaccine was painless and she has experienced no adverse effects.

“I can’t wait to get back to the frontline which is my passion – I also want to be a Covid vaccinator myself,” she added. 

“I am an advocate for immunisation, we have got to have confidence in the scientists and the studies that have been done.”

Members of the public in Oldham began receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Tuesday as the first of 800,000 doses were delivered across the country.

 

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