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A teenage transplant patient who attended her appointment to receive the Covid-19 vaccine at Beaumont Hospital today was denied the vaccine after being told that AstraZeneca was not licensed for children under 18 years of age.
The hospital said tonight that a new appointment for the teenager has been scheduled for Tuesday.
The mother of the young kidney transplant explained to RTÉ News how her daughter, who has been in the cocoon for a year, was happy to receive a text message on Thursday informing her of her appointment today.
He traveled from the west of Ireland this morning, but was told on arrival at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin that he could not receive the vaccine.
The woman, who does not want her name published, told RTÉ News that she and her daughter were “heartbroken” after medical staff told them she couldn’t get vaccinated because AstraZeneca was not licensed for children under 18.
The mother said: “We were very happy to get the text message on Thursday about her appointment. While she mentioned AstraZeneca, I assumed everything would be fine because she must have been referred by her medical team. I had not heard anything to the contrary.
“It was like Christmas morning riding in the car today and getting here and being rejected was just heartbreaking. My daughter had been counting down the days until she could go back to school. She is devastated.”
In a statement, Beaumont Hospital said it did not administer the AstraZeneca vaccine because the patient was under 18 years of age. He said this is in line with national recommendations.
The hospital said it has since contacted the patient and a new appointment has been scheduled for Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Irish Kidney Association said the bug relates to teens in adult services who were called in for AstraZeneca when only Pfizer-BioNtech is licensed for use by 16- and 17-year-olds.
The association said it was aware of another teenager who had also been called in to get vaccinated by mistake. The IKA said it appreciated “that HSE staff are working very hard on vaccines,” but has asked programming teams to “verify the age of their lists before inviting people on appointments.”
He added that the HSE needs “clear messages internally and to the public that 16- and 17-year-olds can only take Pfizer-BioNTech.”
The IKA also asked that all teens in group 4 be prioritized for vaccination as schools reopen.
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