Controversy in Birr, as concerns are raised over Covid vaccine distribution

New concerns have been raised about the order in which Covid-19 vaccines are being distributed, with an Offaly councillor claiming that some public health nurses in Birr had their vaccination appointments postponed last Friday while non-frontline health staff received the jabs.

Birr's Cllr John Carroll, the Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council, said he had received information which raised questions about the manner in which the vaccine programme was rolled out at Birr Community Nursing Unit last week.

He said it was his understanding that five public health or primary care nurses for the Birr area had their vaccination appointments at the Community Nursing Unit postponed on Friday, while a number of doctors and a non-frontline member of the HSE’s staff were brought in to be vaccinated there.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent, Cllr Carroll said that some of the doctors, who were vaccinated, were retired but were occasionally acting as locums.

He said he learned that the public health nurses in question were just yesterday (Thursday) given rescheduled appointments to receive their first vaccine dose.

"The primary care nurses are our frontline staff going out into the community, and they should have been a priority (for vaccination) last week," he said.

"The big question is who invited in these people, from outside the unit, to get the vaccine there, and when was that decision made?"

Cllr Carroll contacted the HSE about his concerns and was told there was no breach of the vaccine distribution guidelines.

However, he was unsatisfied with the level of detail provided to him and called for "a clear and unambiguous statement" on the matter to be issued by the HSE.

The Offaly Independent contacted the HSE with questions this week, but the response we received did not refer to the issue of public health nurses in Birr having their vaccination appointments postponed.

"Rollout of the vaccine in Offaly started on January 7. By this weekend, all nine nursing homes in the county will have been visited by vaccination teams, including Birr Nursing Home," said Ciaran Brennan, Communications Manager for the HSE's Midlands Louth Meath Community Healthcare Organisation.

"All residents and staff at Birr Nursing Home who were able to receive the vaccine per national guidance did so over a two-day period," he said.

"As part of the vaccination programme, HSE guidelines allow for GPs working in the area to be included on the list for vaccination in local nursing homes.

"A small number of GPs, all of whom operate as fulltime/locums in the locality, were vaccinated as part of the rollout in Birr Nursing Home, per these guidelines."

Cllr Carroll said he was concerned that, following reports about the vaccination of family members of staff in Dublin hospitals over the last week, any issues with the distribution and administration of the vaccines could lead to a loss of confidence in the transparency of the process.

"We want to get people to understand that there is a system, and that for example if they are (aged) 59, they’ll be waiting until after the people who are over 65, or have underlying conditions, and all the rest. There has to be clear guidelines given," he stated.

Meanwhile, the HSE confirmed that just under 1,400 vaccines had been given at the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore to hospital and community staff by Wednesday.

The vaccinations began there on January 6, with a peer vaccination team of up to 19 nurses vaccinating staff on a 'Monday to Saturday' basis.