HSE chief: Beacon vaccines saga 'a real body blow'
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has asked the HSE to suspend vaccinations at Beacon Hospital in Dublin, with the exception of already scheduled appointments. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said the decision by Beacon Hospital to give Covid-19 vaccines to teachers and creche staff is “ a real body blow to all of us”.
For his part, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the board of the hospital should ensure those responsible "are held to account".
The hospital gave 20 vaccine doses to teachers at a private school attended by children of Beacon chief executive Michael Cullen, and also to workers at nearby creche.
Weekend reports suggest those given vaccines included administrative staff who do not work directly with children.
On Saturday Health Minister Stephen Donnelly announced the HSE would suspend the hospital’s vaccination programme and set up a review.
The Beacon Hospital was the only non-HSE site delivering vaccinations.
Speaking to RTÉ on Sunday, Mr Paul Reid said: “I fully welcome the decision that was made yesterday."
He said this has caused “anger and fury” among the public and within the HSE itself. Mr Reid defended the HSE protocol around vaccinations, saying there are clear guidelines for the back-up list of appropriate people.
This list should only contain names of people who are in the vaccine sequencing list.
“Once a vaccine is complete, it has to be registered on the portal. We collate and hold all of the data about who has been vaccinated,” he said.
He estimated up to 99.9% of the vaccines given are correctly registered.
“In this case, it was made clearly known to us on Thursday by the Beacon themselves. They communicated that to us.
"We immediately communicated that it was a complete breach of any sequencing, of all of the processes from ourselves. “
Extra capacity will be provided now at the clinics in the Aviva Stadium and City West.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney described the behaviour of the Beacon Hospital as “such a slap in the face”.
Mr Coveney strongly criticised the actions of Beacon’s chief executive Michael Cullen and while he did not call for his resignation he called on the Beacon board to ensure individuals are held to account.
“This is such a slap in the face to so many people, and that's why people are so angry about this, so many families that have loved ones that are vulnerable to this virus, patiently waiting for a vaccine,” Mr Coveney said.
Seeing this story has generated an awful lot of anger, he added.
Asked should Mr Cullen resign, Mr Coveney said: “I don't think it's a good precedent for a senior minister to be on the radio calling for someone to resign.
"But what I'd say is that I think the board of the beacon hospital, have a responsibility now to ensure the individuals are held to account."
He said the decision by Stephen Donnelly to suspend the Beacon’s involvement in vaccine rollout was one he supported even though Mr Donnelly had said just 24-hours before that to do that would be to “shoot ourselves in the foot”.
Mr Coveney said by the time the decision was taken to suspend it was clear how much public anger there was around the issue.
“I think Stephen Donnelly's initial response to this was looking at let's do nothing that slows down the rollout of vaccines.
"But I think when he considered the issue, when, when all of us experienced the public anger on the back of this, this issue, I think Mr Donnelly made the right decision,” Mr Coveney said.
“This is about the vaccine rollout and ensuring that we get credibility and belief back into the vaccine rollout, it's also about accountability and making sure it is correct.
"That's why I'm being very direct with you that we expect the board to ensure that there is full accountability,” he told RTÉ radio.
Mr Reid urged people who think they are in the Group 4 priority list to access details of this list on the HSE website to check if their condition is included in the ‘very high risk’ category.
He said in the meantime the vaccination programme continues, and said that up to Sunday evening there will be about 800,000 doses given in Ireland.
Mr Reid also said the HSE has been investigating revelations made on RTÉ’s programme last week.
The programme revealed, with insight from whistleblower Shane Corr, the Department of Health had collected dossiers on families who took legal cases against the health services.
Mr Reid said the allegations were “extremely concerning” but added that, up to Friday, the HSE has not yet confirmed cases where patient confidentiality has been breached by clinicians.
