Clare’s COVID-19 vaccination is to open ahead of schedule.
UL Hospitals Group have confirmed following a query by The Clare Echo that the vaccination centre at the West County Hotel will open on Wednesday (tomorrow) instead of the initial plan which was Monday April 26th.
Similarly, the Abbey Court Hotel in Tipperary will also open early. Both centres will be open on a phased basis scaling up in line with availability of vaccines. Along with the centre at the Radisson Blu Limerick, the facilities form a tripartite vaccination network to accelerate the delivery of COVID-19 vaccine in the Mid-West.
Activity at the Ennis and Nenagh centres commences with the 65-69-year-old group who have been registering in considerable numbers since the opening of the HSE online registration portal last Thursday.
Colette Cowan, CEO, UL Hospitals Group and Chair of the MidWest Integrated Covid 19 Vaccination Steering Group confirmed that over 130,000 people in the 65-69-year-old cohort around the country have already registered for their Covid-19 vaccination and appointments are being offered at the most convenient location based on the information submitted during registration.
With work ongoing at the Radisson Blu Limerick to vaccinate the Group 4 cohort of patients at very high risk of serious illness from COVID-19, the opening of the Ennis and Nenagh centres coincides with the move to Group 5 (people aged 65-69 at high risk) and Group 6 (other people aged 65-69) in the Government’s list of Provisional Vaccine Allocation Groups.
Management of UL Hospitals Group gave the go-ahead for the phased opening of the remaining two Mid-West centres following the announcement that the national online registration portal for the vaccine would go live from Thursday morning, for people aged 65-69.
Group 5 and Group 6 patients are asked to register on specific days, in order to assist with management of high demand on the portal over the coming week.
People aged 69 on Thursday April 15th (or any time after).
People aged 68 on Friday April 16th (or any time after)
People aged 67 on Saturday April 17th (or any time after)
People aged 66 on Sunday April 18th (or any time after)
People aged 65 on Monday April 19th (or any time after)
People can register online at https://vaccine.hse.ie/, and they will be asked for their mobile phone number, email address, PPS number and Eircode. Telephone registration is also available at HSELive on 1850-24-1850 for those unable to register online, and there are options for those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Once registered, people will receive their vaccination appointments from next week.
Appointments will be assigned by age. Vaccine will not be delivered any earlier to those who register prior to the days set out above. Anyone in the 65-69 age group who is unable to register before next Monday should be aware that the portal will remain open subsequently.
People in this age group will be vaccinated using COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, which has been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC), in keeping with the strictest standards of safety and quality. It is recommended for use in people aged over 60 and licensed by regulators.
Dr Denis O’Keeffe, Consultant Haematologist at University Hospital Limerick, said the risk of falling seriously ill with COVID-19 was far greater than any risk that the AstraZeneca vaccine might present to those in the 65-69 age group. “The evidence would suggest that the clotting incidences reported are an extremely rare complication. For patients in this age group, the risk from COVID-19 and the risk of clotting when you get sick with the disease, is significantly higher than the risk of clotting reported as associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
