#MeetTheVaccinator from Suffolk who left a career in dentistry and vaccinated herself
Caroline switched careers to help with the rollout in the East of England.
Last updated 23rd Jun 2021
Caroline Gordon from Suffolk decided to trade her career as a dentist to become a full time vaccinator.
She regularly works 12 hour days, vaccinating new patients every 5 minutes. She has administered well over a thousand vaccines in just over a couple of months.
"A lot of patients have lost entire families. It just reminds you of why we’re doing it."
The number of people in Ipswich who’ve had their first Covid 19 vaccine is now over 86,000, about 72% of the population.
WATCH: Caroline Gordon from Suffolk gave up a career in dentistry to join the vaccination effort:
Caroline said: “It’s been absolutely brilliant. It’s been the most rewarding job I’ve ever had.
“I used to be a dentist and I stopped doing that to do the vaccinating instead – which is a bit of a pay cut, but definitely worthwhile.
“I just had my second jab yesterday, which I did myself. And I did my partner’s one yesterday as well."
Caroline said she’s had all sorts of patients, including some who were concerned about getting the vaccine.
“We’ve had people concerned about having microchips, injecting metals, magnets, and tracking devices and asking ‘what’s Bill Gate’s roll in it'. All that sort of stuff where you just have to keep a straight face."
She added that many of her colleagues and patients have been deeply affected by the pandemic.
“The staff I worked with, with the Suffolk GP Federation at Trinity Park – some of them have had real horror stories of their own family who they’ve lost to Covid.
"Kind of heart-breaking situations that they’ve got no one to go home to anymore.
“I just feel like we’re so incredibly lucky over here, and I think maybe people sometimes forget that.
“In most other countries in the world, 80-year-olds with chronic health conditions still aren’t offered a vaccine at all – any vaccine – and we’ve managed to designate which ones are best for which age groups. We’re incredibly lucky."
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Edgar Woodhead, on the left in his "normal" role as an airline pilot, and on the right, as a vaccinator in Ilkley, Yorkshire