Grandmother (79) of Liberties will be the first person in the Republic of Ireland to be vaccinated against Covid-19

Annie, a woman from Dublin, a 79-year-old grandmother, will be the first person to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the Republic of Ireland.

On December 29, the state will begin vaccinating in four hospitals: Beaumont and St James’s Hospitals in Dublin, Cork University Hospital and Galway University Hospital.

Some 10,000 doses of Pfizer / BioNTech arrived in the country on Saint Stephen’s Day.

St James’ Hospital in Dublin will receive the vaccine first at 1:30 p.m. today, according to Covid-19 Vaccination Task Force Chair Brian MacCraith.

He said that an ICU nurse working in a Covid ward will be one of the first to receive the vaccine, but Annie will be the first person to receive it today.

Annie, whose last name was not given by Professor MacCraith, has 10 grandchildren, was born in Christchurch and grew up in the Liberties.

“Sadly, her husband passed away at the beginning of this year, 4 weeks before his admission (to the hospital) in October,” she said on RTÉ Radio One. Tomorrow Ireland.

“Annie is delighted to receive the vaccine and feels very privileged to be the first person in Ireland to receive it.”

The original start date for the launch of the vaccine was tomorrow, however it was brought forward a day and now St James Hospital will be the first site for the administration of the vaccine, unlike the original plan for a nursing home. .

This is because the National Immunization Advisory Committee (NIAC) said it would prefer a health care setting to be the first place where the vaccine is administered after some reports in the UK and the US of allergic reactions.

Staff training was still taking place before vaccinations, the HSE confirmed.

Informational material will be provided to those who receive the jab today. This paperwork will act as informed consent.

Professor McCraith said they will begin administering vaccinations to nursing homes next week and that if all goes according to plan, all nursing home residents will be vaccinated in mid-February.

“Starting next week we are going to go to nursing homes and we have had a very good dialogue with the Tadhg Daly nursing homes in Ireland and there is a very advanced schedule for all those nursing homes,” he said.

“It is very fitting that those who probably suffered the most from this terrible pandemic will be priority number one and I think it is very positive that we can predict that all vaccinations (will be done) in nursing homes in mid-February.”

After nursing home residents, those over 70 are next in line to get the vaccine. Professor McCraith said that exactly how they will receive it will be “worked out,” but GPs and pharmacists will play an important role.

He added: “In the not too distant future, we will look for mass vaccination centers to adapt to the general population.”

After today’s shipment, the country currently has 40,000 vaccines, however, not all of them will be delivered quickly as two doses of Pfizer / BioNTech are needed and the task force wants to ensure that every person who receives the vaccine can receive one. vaccine. second dose.

Professor McCraith said that the AstraZeneca vaccine could be a game changer if approved for use by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

“In our model, the AstraZeneca vaccine would be available quite soon and within the advanced purchase agreement that Ireland is part of in the EU and that is the largest volume of vaccines that we can obtain is from AstraZeneca, that is 3.3 million”, explained.

“So it would be a game changer both in terms of scale and ease of use, as it can be stored in a routine refrigerator in a doctor’s office or pharmacy.”

In recent days, concern has been raised about the slower pace of vaccination rollout in Ireland compared to other European countries that began immunizing their most vulnerable populations on Sunday.

Dr Padraig McGarry, Chairman of the Irish Medical Organization (IMO), said last night: “While it is understandable that people are anxious to see this program start as quickly as possible, it is critical that we allow relevant agencies to do the Necessary and important preparatory work to ensure a sustainable and safe program for the various vaccines that will be available in the coming months.

“IMO will work with all parties to ensure that the vaccination program is carried out as quickly and professionally as possible.”

The program will see acute hospital staff vaccinated first, followed by those in long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.

An HSE spokeswoman said the nursing home resident program was a “very complex process that requires the cooperation of all stakeholders.”

There are around 580 nursing homes in Ireland, of which 80% are privately owned.

“Using centralized information from serial testing in relation to the number of staff and patients and taking into account the required throughput per day, the HSE has issued a preliminary schedule for each community health organization (CHO),” he said.

The draft schedule facilitates a “mandatory three-week cycle and ensures that both doses are administered efficiently, leading to the completion of the full 580 nursing homes (both doses) in February.”

“Each CHO will work with their local nursing home providers between now and next Thursday to finalize their hours,” the spokeswoman added.

Each provider must register staff members and residents who wish to receive the vaccine and collect 55 individual pieces of information for each person, several days before the vaccination team arrives.

“Each provider must also ensure that each staff member and each resident (and their families where applicable) understand and give their informed consent to the vaccine,” the spokeswoman said.

The planned completion date for the 580 public, private and voluntary nursing homes is February 28, but this could be affected by any “outbreak (that) may interrupt vaccination.”

Although 10,000 doses of vaccines arrived in the country on Saturday, the bureaucracy to obtain the informed consent of people receiving the vaccine has delayed the launch of the injections until today.

Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said hospitalizations have “increased dramatically in the last two days.”

As of 2:00 p.m. yesterday, there were 359 Covid-19 patients in the hospital, of which 30 were in intensive care units.

“We are also seeing a sharp increase in positivity rates in community tests with a seven-day average of more than 9.2 percent compared to 5.2 percent on Dec. 18,” he said.

“This indicates that the virus is increasing its presence in our communities.”

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