HSE chief apologises to families of unvaccinated, high-risk children

Paul Reid said there were problems with scheduling at a number of large vaccination centres around the country with appointments offered for not-at-risk children first. 

HSE chief executive Paul Reid has apologised to families of high-risk children still waiting for a vaccination appointment, and said the delays “should not have happened”.

About 10,000 children were registered by their parents or guardians as high-risk onto the HSE booking system in late December on the understanding they would be prioritised for vaccination.

However, many parents who spoke to the Irish Examiner earlier this week said they were shocked to see children from the not-at-risk groups getting vaccinated before they even had an appointment date for their child.

“I am extremely sorry that some of the vulnerable children didn’t get their vaccine in the appropriate time,” Paul Reid told a press briefing. 

We are sorry that those children didn’t get their appointments in the proper time.

He said there were problems with scheduling at a number of large centres around the country with appointments offered for not-at-risk children first. 

This was being fixed throughout yesterday and today. Up to this afternoon, he said, there were about 200 high-risk children still waiting on appointment dates, and he expected this to be finalised shortly. 

In all, more than 70,000 children aged five to 11 have now registered on the booking system, with the age group estimated to include about 480,000 children.

So far, 6,500 children of this age have been vaccinated, mainly in mass vaccination centres, but a small number of severely ill children received the vaccine in hospitals.

Meanwhile, the booster campaign has slowed down compared to the rush for shots before Christmas, Mr Reid said, adding that health officials are concerned that people are "dropping off".

He urged people to come forward as all age groups are now open.

Mr Reid said one issue is the large number of Covid cases currently, as anyone who has the virus must wait for three months before getting a booster shot.

Cases identified since Christmas Day now make up 25% of all cases during the past 12 months.

Over 2.27m booster doses or additional doses for immuno-compromised people have been administered, meaning 62% of the eligible population have received a booster.

Within that number, 91% of people aged over 70 are now boosted and 85% of people in their 60s.

However, among younger people, the number is much lower with just 34% of people aged 30 to 39 and younger people who got the Janssen vaccine boosted.

HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry urged people to get vaccinated, saying 51% of patients in intensive care are unvaccinated, even though they make up less than 6% of the population generally.

A further 3% are partially vaccinated, he said, with many vaccinated people in intensive care having serious underlying conditions.

HSE data shows last week 3,000 people attended to get their first dose and this continues to be offered.

Professor Ross Morgan, respiratory consultant with Beaumont Hospital, said most unvaccinated patients he has seen in intensive care are under-50.

“We had a number of family groups, parents and children in their 30s and 40s,” he told the briefing referring to unvaccinated patients.