THE roll-out of the vaccination programme in Donegal has been declared a resounding success by the HSE even though the county has the second lowest vaccination rate in the country. Donegal also consistely had the highest or one of the highest rates of Covid-19 cases in the country over the past year.
Mr Frank Harburn, Saolta General Manager for the rollout of the vaccination programme in the West and North West said the numbers were “incredibly high” in terms of uptake compared with most other countries in Europe.
The HSE’s county-by-county breakdown of vaccination uptake shows that 83.5 per cent of adults over 18 in Donegal have obtained at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, making it the second lowest vaccination rate in the country.
By contrast Waterford, Carlow, Tipperary, Wexford, Sligo and Wicklow all have vaccination uptake rates of 95per cent or higher. However, the HSE does not have figures for people who have been vaccinated in other jurisdictions and Mr Harburn said some people living in Donegal were vaccinated in Northern Ireland where the vaccination programme began in early December of last year.
“We don’t know how many individuals have been vaccinated across the border and there may be other factors at play but, overall, the vaccination programme continues to be very successful in Donegal,” he said.
Mr Harburn said the uptake of Covid-19 vaccines in Ireland is the envy of Europe, adding that the ability of the virus to cause harm is “significantly reduced”.
The vaccination centres in Donegal have delivered more than 95,000 vaccines since the first centre opened in Letterkenny at the middle of March.
The HSE has confirmed that a satellite vaccination centre will open in Burtonport next week, less than a fortnight after the last vaccinations were administered at Carndonagh Community School.
“The satellite centre in Carndonagh gave just short of 2,000 vaccines over an eight to ten-week period. It’s now closed as the school has reopened but it’s important to note that there a number of pharmacies where the vaccine is available.
“We’re opening a new satellite centre in Burtonport early next week as we think they may be some demand for a walk-in centre in west Donegal. Staff from LYIT will operate the centre,” he said.
Meanwhile, the LYIT centre has been pared back to a five-day week.
“We’re moving towards opening times more related to demand and focusing more on walk-in clinics to give people a greater range and flexibility around the time they come in.
“It’s no longer open seven days a week but, again, we’ll keep it under review. We will offer some evening time hours every week but it’s important that we stay open at weekends to suit people. Opening times and days will change from week to week,” he said.
As the proportion of unvaccinated people continues to decrease, the LYIT centre will be operating more walk-in clinics at which people can get their first or second dose of the Pfizer vaccine without an appointment.
“We are very happy with the turnout with a range of age groups attending from 12 years upwards. A few weeks ago we had a person aged 83 years attend for their first jab in Letterkenny. Other more mature people have decided to get vaccinated in more recent times for a variety of reasons.
“Every person who comes into the walk-in centre is one extra person vaccinated. They are helping themselves, their friends, colleagues, family and everyone in the community,” he said.
The HSE has already began extra advertising campaigns in counties with a low vaccine uptake using local radio, newspapers and targeted social media efforts, as well as walk-in vaccination clinics.
Anyone aged 12 and older who hasn’t yet received their first dose vaccine can go to a walk-in vaccination clinic this week for their jab.
The HSE is encouraging people wishing to be tested for Covid-19 in Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Cavan to book a suitable appointment time by using the self-referral online booking system on www.hse.ie
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