[ad_1]
The impact of vaccination implementation on healthcare workers has been described as “phenomenal”.
Professor Mary Horgan, president of the Royal Irish College of Physicians and an infectious disease consultant at Cork University Hospital, said people should be hopeful about the “fact that vaccines are working.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Professor Horgan said she understands that people are frustrated with the pace of the launch, but that the program in the community will accelerate, as was the case after the initial launch in hospitals.
She said the number of healthcare workers who became infected with Covid-19 “just turned off” last month.
“It’s been phenomenal. We were tracking the number of infected healthcare workers from January to February and it basically shut down in February, and also the number of hospital admissions.”
Professor Horgan, who is a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team, said that the decrease in cases is not only linked to the decrease in infection in the community, but to the effectiveness of the vaccine.
He said that the pressure on health workers and the Health Service Executive has been “incessant for more than a year,” but said positive messages should be maintained so that “people have confidence in the health service and those who have spent a year trying to control this. ”
Read more: Latest coronavirus stories
Professor Horgan is also part of a group that will provide a report to the Minister of Health on the implementation of rapid tests, saying that it is “likely” to be launched here, subject to the minister’s approval.
Speaking about the same program, Fianna Fáil TD for Mayo Dara Calleary said that the problems with the implementation of the vaccine are not only rural and that problems have been reported in Cavan, Longford and the north side of Dublin.
Calleary said he understood that the supply is outside of HSE’s control, but said he should know at the beginning of each week how much supply is available and be able to inform GPs of his assignment.
He said he is confident that the HSE can carry out the implementation successfully, but does not believe there is a need for a Minister of Vaccines, adding that a little planning and communication would solve the problems.
Calleary was one of Fianna Fáil’s TDs who last night criticized the timing of the vaccine release, particularly for those over 85.
The Taoiseach told a meeting of his parliamentary party that the government will engage with the HSE to ensure proper communication.
Micheál Martin said that the offer is the only limitation and admitted that there were some obstacles in the schedule with AstraZeneca.
Meanwhile, a GP in Conamara (Connemara) has described how his practice received his vaccine vials, but not syringes.
Dr. Peter Sloane said he had to drive around Conamara last Saturday night to get syringes so he could start vaccinating his patients the next day.
He said a manager of a podiatry unit at Merlin Park Hospital came in his spare time to open the unit and give him needles and syringes.
Dr. Sloane said that the HSE had promised him a delivery of syringes, which arrived at 9.15am on Sunday morning, before the vaccination clinic that began at 10am.
He said Moderna vaccine can be stored for 30 days, but there can be no delay in delivery of the Pfizer vaccine and not having the correct needles and syringes runs the risk of the vaccine going to waste.
Dr. Sloane cautioned that without the proper equipment, getting all six doses out of each vial would be a great challenge.
Unapproved vaccines are not obtained
Ireland will not source vaccines that are not approved by the European Medicines Agency, the Foreign Minister said.
Simon Coveney said that a small number of countries have sought to obtain vaccines from Russia and China and “that is not an approach that we can sustain or should follow.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said Ireland is working with the European Commission to maximize vaccine availability so it can quickly move up to 100,000 vaccines per week and more from there.
Mr. Coveney said that some supply problems were related to AstraZeneca and that the only delays or restrictions on vaccine delivery are related to international supplies “and nothing else.”
The government drops the ball on travel and vaccinations – Doherty
Sinn Féin TD Pearse Doherty said the government is dropping the ball on international travel and the launch of the vaccine.
Speaking during Questions from Leaders in the Dáil, he said GPs have contacted TDs to tell them that communication about the vaccine program is chaotic.
He added that the situation is causing anxiety and GPs have to cancel hundreds of vaccination appointments on short notice.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar admitted that there have been problems and difficulties surrounding the vaccine program.
He said there will be some weeks where there will be supply problems and 25,000 fewer doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived last week.
[ad_2]