PLANS are underway to open a new satellite vaccination centre in West Donegal.
The news comes as the first walk-in vaccination centres prepare to open in the county over the bank holiday weekend.
People without an appointment will be able to get a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine in the Letterkenny IT vaccination centre on Saturday and Sunday while the Carndonagh satellite centre will be offering the vaccine on Monday.
A spokesperson for the HSE confirmed that a third vaccination centre will open in the county in the coming weeks.
“Planning is underway in relation to a satellite vaccination centre for West Donegal to support the roll-out of the vaccine programme and details of this satellite centre will be announced in due course,” a spokesperson said.
Letterkenny IT will have vaccines available between 8am and 5pm on Saturday and from 8.30am to 12.30pm on Sunday, whereas Carndonagh Community School will have walk-in vaccines available from 9am to 12 noon on Monday.
Many people will have registered for a vaccine appointment already, but those people can still attend these new walk-in clinics.
Registration can be done at the centres themselves, although the HSE says registering online in advance may speed up the process.
Anyone who has already registered online is asked to bring a photo ID with them to the vaccination centre.
However, those who haven’t registered will also need their PPS number, Eircode, phone number and email address to hand.
Anyone who gets their first dose at one of these centres will get an appointment for their second one via text message, at a centre close to their home address.
75,000 vaccines
Meanwhile, it has emerged that 75,000 vaccines have been administered to date in the LYIT vaccination centre and over 1,000 in the Carndonagh satellite vaccination centre. These are a mix of dose 1 and dose 2 vaccinations, using all vaccine types.
“There is a good supply of vaccine at the moment and typically people are being offered appointments within a couple of days or so of registering at hse.ie.
“It is important that people attend for their appointment when called and also get the second dose of their vaccine so that they have the best protection against Covid-19 including against the Delta variant. If necessary people can change their appointment date by responding to your appointment text or by calling the HSE Covid-19 helpline on 1800 700 700,” the spokesperson said.
Everyone aged 16 and older who hasn’t yet received their vaccine, can register to get their vaccine at the LYIT vaccination centre or the Carndonagh vaccination centre by going to hse.ie and clicking on the ‘register’ link.
The Carndonagh satellite vaccination centre is open between 1 and 3 days per week, depending on the number of people who have registered online to get their vaccine with an address in the region and depending on the number of people who opt to get their second dose vaccine in Carndonagh. A helpline has been set up for people to request to have their second dose vaccine at the Carndonagh vaccination centre by calling 087 3656492 between 9am and 2pm, Monday to Friday.
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