Supporting the community with the Nishkam COVID-19 Vaccination Centre

In January 2020, over two years ago, a life-changing virus began spreading across the world, and humanity found itself in the midst of a deadly global pandemic. Whilst this pandemic is by no means over and the CVOVID-19 virus may never fully be eliminated, we are hopefully moving together, step by step, towards a new normal. The Nishkam COVID-19 Vaccination Centre opened on 13th March 2021, to the call of urgent assistance from the Government and the struggling NHS. In just 10 days, through the faith inspired visionary leadership of Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh Ahluwalia, Patron of the Nishkam Healthcare Trust, and the Trust’s Senior Leadership Team, alongside the hard work of selfless volunteers, a Nishkam warehouse in Newtown was transformed into a fully functioning clean, safe, and welcoming vaccination centre.

The Centre was set-up amidst the poorest areas of Birmingham with the biggest black, Asian and minority ethnic populations, who had the lowest take-up of vaccines, the lowest rates of testing and the worst impact from coronavirus.

During the first few weeks, the centre was open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and manned by over 40 volunteers per day. During its busiest periods over 1000 patients a day walked through the doors per week. To date over 38,000 vaccinations have been delivered to the public and over 250 volunteers have been involved.

The volunteer contribution towards this great medical & civic effort throughout the pandemic has been truly remarkable. Volunteers from all backgrounds, including clinical and non-clinical, dedicated their time and energy to this worthwhile cause. Over 79 vaccinators have been involved, including 16 Doctors, 9 nurses, 4 dentists and 22 pharmacists. 25 non-clinical volunteers were trained to become vaccinators.

Patient feedback has been extremely positive, with many hundreds of patients having had their first vaccine at the Centre, returning for the second dose and then the booster. As the Centre provided variable opening hours over a 7-day period, with bilingual volunteers providing compassionate care, patients travelled from all over the Midlands and beyond to receive their vaccination at the Centre.

On 3rd July 2021 the service relocated to the Nishkam Healthcare Centre at 23 Soho Road and remains as one of the few active vaccination centres within the surrounding area. An outreach vaccination service to care-homes, hostels, and house-bound patients was provided, and a work experience program for local 6th Form students was launched.

The Centre was recognised as the only fully volunteer-led vaccination centre in the UK, with Dr Emily Lawson, National Director of the Vaccine Deployment Program, stating ‘It is clear to see that you and all the team at the Nishkam Vaccination Site have truly gone above and beyond for your local community and are making a real difference to many people… Please thank all of your colleagues who are volunteering…. What you have setup and achieved is fantastic.’

Everyone’s commitment, pride, professionalism and most importantly resilience radiated through even on the most challenging of days. May we always remember the selfless efforts of the community throughout this unique period of unprecedented commitment, collaboration, and solidarity.