Loophole could see thousands of Republic residents avail of Covid vaccines in NI

Half of the UK’s adult population has now received its first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the UK Health Secretary has announced.

Northern Ireland authorities say residents of the Republic with old UK GP numbers who apply to be vaccinated in the six counties will not face any sanction.

Earlier this week, a loophole became apparent in the British National Health Service system, which could see Irish people who have previously worked and lived in the UK, avail of the vaccines in the UK.

An Irish citizen who has a UK GP number, can apply for the Covid-19 vaccination, potentially receiving it months in advance of those in the Republic of Ireland.

Northern Ireland has said it is not imposing sanctions on residents of the Republic who cross the border to get the coronavirus vaccine.

Northern Ireland’s department of health said anyone who is vaccinated must be entitled to receive healthcare in Northern Ireland, be registered with a GP in Northern Ireland or be employed as a healthcare worker in Northern Ireland.

However, when questioned by The Financial Times about penalties for those able to book without meeting the eligibility criteria, based on having an old healthcare number from previous residency in the UK, the department said there were “none.” 

Cork entrepreneur Pat Phelan, who is in his 50s, discovered the flaw earlier this week after talking to a friend who received the vaccination.

Using his old postcode, from when he lived and worked in London in the 1990s, he was able to get his old NHS number.

With this number and the fact that Mr Phelan is still registered with a GP in London, he was later able to book a vaccine in Derry.

“I wanted to try it out and went on to book a vaccine, and it gave me Good Friday,” Mr Phelan told the Irish Examiner.

He explained that all the requirements stated that he must bring photo identification and something with his date of birth on it to the vaccination centre.

Mr Phelan explained that he would not be availing of the vaccination, which was offered to him, as he doesn’t feel it would be fair.

I won’t take it. I’m very healthy and well. But it is open and people can do it. It's unfair on the British obviously, because if I was to go up there, I'd be stealing someone's spot. 

On the NHS website, where you can book a vaccination, it says that you will need to be registered with a GP, however, Mr Phelan says he was not asked to provide proof of this, but is registered with a GP in London.

Mr Phelan says he was given the time, dates and locations for both vaccinations, and the whole process took him seconds.

He guesses that there could be hundreds of thousands of Irish who worked in the UK over the past 50 years, who would be able to do the same as him.

“Say there was 250,000 of us, that would be 250,000 vaccines stolen from the British. They would be overwhelmed,” Mr Phelan said.

The North’s vaccine programme is now open to all over-50s while the Republic is still inoculating the over-70s.

Half of the UK’s adult population has now received its first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster has previously expressed concerns about the pace of the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out in the Republic

Northern Ireland’s first minister, Arlene Foster, has previously expressed concerns about the pace of the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out in the Republic and said the UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson should have a conversation with Taoiseach Micheál Martin about the possibility of surplus doses being given to the Republic.

“I think we need to have that conversation because if we’re vaccinated in Northern Ireland and there’s still a cohort of people in the Republic of Ireland not vaccinated and people are moving about and coming up to Northern Ireland then that has an impact on us here in Northern Ireland because of the effectiveness of the vaccine working."

Official figures show there were more than 2m patients in Northern Ireland in 2020 and fewer than 1.9m residents.