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Monday 8 Mar 2021

Station staff swap passengers for patients in Covid jab effort

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: West Coast Mainline South

Five customer service staff at London Euston station have been recruited to give Covid-19 jabs in a major push to get people vaccinated across the capital.

The Network Rail staff have been given special training so they can be called in to help deliver vaccines at large vaccination hubs soon to open in North London.

Qualified health professions trained the five railway recruits for a day, followed by further e-learning and a final assessment to give them the skills needed to administer the Oxford-Astra Zeneca and Pfizer vaccines.

Two of the customer service staff now ready to respond are Layla Cardoso, and Dave Allen.

Dave was praised for working throughout the pandemic by royalty in December, when he met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their special tour to thank key workers.

Dave said: “I thought meeting William and Kate was a huge honour but the chance to have this training to give Covid-19 vaccines to members of the public tops even that. I’ve really missed the interactions with passengers since most people have had to stay at home and away from public transport. The fact I will now literally be protecting people’s lives as part of the race to get people vaccinated from this terrible disease really blows my mind.”

Layla added: “Staff at Network Rail have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to keep trains running for key workers, move freight up and down the country and now have the opportunity to join in the rollout of the vaccine. I’m thrilled to have had the chance to do this as it allows me help the North London community combat the virus, get us out of lockdown and bring passengers back to Euston station once again.”

Middlesex University’s Clinical Skills team and Nursing and Midwifery Department have led the major vaccination training programme for the North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group

After completing the training, the vaccinators will be ready to volunteer at the planned vaccination hubs set to open soon.