Anger in Waterford over 'Cork-centric' vaccine rollout

University Hospital Waterford is reportedly under “significant pressure”

On January 1, the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital Cork administered their first Covid-19 vaccines to healthcare staff.

POLITICIANS in Waterford have expressed anger that Cork hospitals with low numbers of Covid-19 patients were issued with the Covid vaccine before University Hospital Waterford (UHW), which currently has 23 positive inpatients and is reportedly under “significant pressure”.

Independent TD Matt Shanahan has blamed the South South West Hospital Group (SSWHG) for what he calls a “continued Cork bias”.

“Yet again SSWHG leadership has shown its complete inability and dysfunction in overcoming its Cork-centric management ethos,” Mr Shanahan said.

“A vaccine roll out plan that prioritised Cork hospitals to include centres that are elective-only with minimal Covid exposure or active case in-patients, while ignoring the significant Covid case burdens and staff risks existing in other regional acute hospitals in Waterford, Kerry, and Tipperary is a further signal of failure in SSWHG equitable recognition or governance."

Mr Shanahan said there was no parity of esteem among hospitals in SSWHG, adding that the group's management had a 'Cork-first' attitude.

Just one seat of nine on the SSWHG board is available to UHW despite it being the only other category four hospital in the group, and the second largest by bed number, he pointed out.

On January 1, the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital and Mercy University Hospital Cork administered their first vaccines to healthcare staff while there were five positive cases in total between both hospitals. On the same day, Cork University Hospital vaccinated 600 of its healthcare workers.

Fianna Fail TD Mary Butler announced on Twitter that the vaccine would be rolled out in Waterford “in the week starting January 4”. 

Her party colleague and Waterford City and County Councillor Eddie Mulligan said that it was “utterly unacceptable” that the vaccine roll-out still had not started in UHW.

“Over the Christmas period, despite Cabinet decisions mid-December, it was an abominable failure that the HSE weren't ready to immediately roll out vaccine on receipt, putting it into storage for three days,” Mr Mulligan said. 

“This apathy in urgency has now affected Waterford citizens with Cork hospitals administering before UHW. I have hundreds of UHW staff living in my ward and these are in the frontline, protecting our ill but treated as second-class care staff by the SSW Hospital Group. 

"Next week is not good enough, staff and our sick deserve equitable priority administration of vaccine at same time of our Cork counterparts. In the last 24 hours, 73 were admitted to hospital because of Covid and the staff treating those admitted UHW deserve equitable treatment by the HSE & SSW Hospital Group in vaccine roll out.” 

In a statement, SSWHG said that the vaccine could arrive in University Hospital Waterford “as early as Wednesday January 6”.

Co Waterford had 112 new Covid-19 cases in the latest daily case announcement.