Fire service team help give 11,000 patients with their Covid-19 jab as they join in the fight to beat the virus
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Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service’s staff and crew members answered a call to step up and help the vaccination programme, with 169 of its workforce volunteering to temporarily move from their normal jobs to work alongside others during the jab sessions.
The service says the list of achievements comes as it continued to maintain the emergency response to incidents.
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Hide AdTWFRS staff have also taken on a variety of different community roles including administering Lateral Flow Tests (LFT), marshals, vaccinators, and resource managers.
Its workers have given immunisations at sites including the Nightingale Hospital in Sunderland, Newcastle Racecourse, the Vertu Motors Arena, which is the home of Newcastle Eagles and a high school among others.
Chris Lowther, Chief Fire Officer, said: “One of the defining memories that encompasses the community response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been the way people and organisations including the emergency services have rolled up their sleeves and have gone over and above the call of duty to help others.
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Hide Ad“I am proud of the way our crews and staff from across Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service have come together and generated a wonderful community spirit.
"We have seen people gaining new skills that can be used to help fight the battle against this terrible disease.
"Actions taken range from administering vaccination jabs through to delivering crucial food parcels to the vulnerable in our community.
“This shows the high level of empathy and caring being shown by all of our Emergency Service colleagues in the North East, and up and down the country.
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Hide Ad"These actions have been delivered alongside our day-to-day roles. We will continue to provide essential skills and services and stand strong with our community in the battle against Covid-19.”