Medical Workers Toil at the COVID-19 Vaccination Site
By Dong Na
Over the past few days, nurses in the COVID-19 vaccination sites in Haishu district, wearing protective clothing, medical hats and gloves, have been working really hard to prepare disinfection supplies and keep the vaccination process running.
They work for eight hours at a time. "This is our daily routine, repeating the same movements over and over again, making sure nothing goes wrong," said nurse Ren Rong.
Medical workers are also busy at the temporary COVID-19 vaccination site at the Gulin Sports Center, which opened in mid-July. "Don't touch the water with your injected arm today, don't drink alcohol for a week, and stay for half an hour before you go home..." Nurse Quan Haiyan repeatedly told the public to pay attention to those matters. Quan is also in charge of another temporary vaccination site. She often travels between two sites. Every day, she manages to vaccinate more than 800 people, that is, as many as three people per minute.
"The arm has developed muscle memory and reflexively repeats the inoculation, telling the vaccinators hundreds of times a day. At the end of the day, the voice gets hoarse," said Quan Haiyan.
By 8 PM, the nurses' uniforms under their protective suits were soaked with sweat. "I don't feel tired while working. I just don't want to keep patients waiting too long. We don't go to the toilet for half a day and finish eating within five minutes. This is our special skill," Quan said.
Gulin town has a permanent population of more than 160,000, and the vaccination task is also the hardest in Haishu district. To reduce the waiting time for patients, nurses have always overcome the difficulties and continued providing service as long as people come to receive the jab.
Nucleic Acid Test of Covid-19 (NAT) medical staff also stick to the front line. More than 30 staff members have been working around the clock since Haishu NAT Comprehensive Service Center officially began sampling.
In the hot summer, although the service center was equipped with air conditioning, the staff's clothes were soaked with sweat after only half an hour of sampling. "Sampling requires a lot of concentration. Despite the sweltering heat in the protective clothing, our duty and mission kept us going and overcame all difficulties to complete working," Director Lu Yizhen said.