Kirky optician Neil Drain takes on new Covid vaccinator role

Neil Drain, store director of the Specsavers in both towns, has started to help vaccinate locals at Kirkintilloch Sports Centre as well as at the NHS Louisa Jordan hospital in Glasgow.

He is volunteering to do one shift per week on top of his day job examining eyes at Specsavers.

Neil said: ‘When I saw the call out for volunteers to train up as vaccinators, I was really keen to do what I could to help with the swift roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccines.

‘I knew my skills as a community health provider would help in the role of vaccinator.

“In the first lockdown last year, my team and I concentrated on helping lots of emergency cases of people who had problems with their eyes.

"We even treated a baby who had something stuck in their eye at the door of their family’s home as they were self-isolating at the time.

“As our doors have remained open for all routine eye health appointments during the current lockdown, I wanted to look at other ways I could help the community through the pandemic by becoming a vaccinator.”

East Dunbartonshire Councillor Duncan Cumming has expressed interest in becoming a vaccinator.

A qualified first-aider, hecalled recently for a volunteer vaccination scheme to be developed to help speed up the roll-out of 
Covid jabs in the community