The personal loss motivating army vet into helping protect Birmingham people from Covid

Personal loss is motivating an army veteran into helping keep people in Birmingham and Solihull safe from Covid. Vernal Wilson is part of the NHS Birmingham and Solihull NHS team working on mobile vaccination vans travelling to locations in hard to reach areas across Birmingham and Solihull in the coming days and weeks.

When the pandemic first struck in 2020, Mr Wilson came out of retirement to volunteer for the NHS and he has continued working for them since, helping to promote vaccine uptake for a variety of diseases. But the 67-year-old added the loss of family members to Covid 19 has made him even more determined to help out and give something back.

In 1974, he joined the army as a teenager and served for 15 years, being deployed in the Falklands and in Ireland during the troubles before leaving in 1989. He then worked as a project manager for a company for more than 30 years before he retired and the NHS came calling.

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He said: "I take this team wherever they send us - supermarkets or surgeries. My job is administration and looking after the team on site. We come with a nurse or if teams are bigger we have a nurse in charge, a vaccinator.

"Four years ago, I had a phone call asking if I wanted to come and volunteer and I said 'yes'. I've always answered the call so after 15 years in the army and 34 years for another company this came along and I just had to do it.

"I've retired but I will keep doing this as long as they call me back to do it and that's what I've been doing each year. As for my main reason, I've got members of my family who died from Covid. So if I can give anything, I can do this and it is what I do now.

"It's not just Covid, I do measles and anything we are called upon to help out in the community - walking the streets, going to schools. I enjoy doing it - I wouldn't do something if I didn't. It's not the financial gain, it's what I like to do."

He added: "It is really important to get the message out there. We do get the odd one or two who don't understand so our job is to put the message across. We don't argue with people as everybody has their own beliefs. As long as I can give them the correct information to help them understand.

"The satisfying bit is when someone comes back and says 'I thought about that and now I'll have my vaccination'. It's not gone away, different strains keep coming. It's not just in this country but other countries too."

Details of where the vaccine van will be can be found at https://www.birminghamsolihull.icb.nhs.uk/health-information/vaccinations/flu-and-covid-19/mobile-vaccination-unit