'This should not have happened': Coombe doctor took vaccine doses home for family-report

The Coombe Hospital was subject to an early furore over the vaccine rollout. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

A doctor at the Coombe Woman and Infants Hospital took two doses of Covid-19 vaccine home to give to his family, an independent review has found. 

16 relatives of hospital staff received the vaccine when there were leftover doses on January 8 as the first stages of the vaccine rollout were getting underway.

The hospital board has just published the findings of a review conducted by Brian Kennedy SC into the incident and said it "should not have happened".

The board said it has "started a process to address the implications" and said, "lessons must and will be learnt to ensure that similar issues cannot recur".

In a statement responding to the report's findings, the board said a number of mitigating factors contributed to the incident. 

The board said there no information in the vaccination programme's guidelines about the preparation of a standby list and that a pressured environment made worse by Covid-related staff absences and long hours affected decision-making.

However, the board said it accepts that mistakes were made when family members received the vaccine including administration of two vaccine does away from the hospital. 

Commenting on the review's findings, Chair of The Coombe Women and Infants Hospital, Mary Donovan said the early stages of the vaccination programme took place in unique circumstances and that efforts were made to identify other front line staff. 

“The vaccination programme managed by the Hospital saw over 1,100 vaccine doses administered to frontline staff, GPs and local community health workers," said Ms Donovan, "It is clear from the facts established by the Review that the programme was rolled out at the very early stages of the vaccine programme in quite unique circumstances. 

"It is also clear from the review that those administering the vaccine did maximise the number of doses from the vials and that no vaccines were wasted. The Review also found that on the evening of Friday January, 8, the team at the hospital made efforts to identify other front line staff.

"Despite the mitigating factors and the overall success of the vaccine programme, the board is disappointed that 16 family members were vaccinated with leftover vaccines. This should not have happened. We are also concerned that in the case of one family, two vaccinations occurred offsite. Again, this should not have happened," she said. 

The hospital review found that on the night of January 8, 16 vaccinations were administered across eight families who otherwise would not have been eligible to receive the vaccinations that evening.

Of the 16 recipients, nine were over 70 and the remaining seven were of varying age. In the case of one family, two vaccinations occurred offsite.

The review said no vaccine was wasted and that hospital personnel took the decision to administer these vaccines to 16 family members after deciding that no other frontline staff were available. 

Guidelines for the vaccination programme rollout were followed in all circumstances except for this incident, the review found. 

"The Board takes what occurred extremely seriously and has started a process to address the implications. In addition, key actions and measures are being implemented to ensure such an incident could not occur again and Hospital guidelines and protocols will be enhanced with a particular focus on embedding our strong values as a community-based voluntary hospital.

"In the interests of transparency and accountability, the report of the Independent Review has been published to our website and a copy of the report has also been shared with the Minister for Health, the HSE and the Medical Council,” said Ms Donovan.