Majority of Covid-19 vaccination centres to shut in April

A busy vaccination centre at the Cork City Hall. Picture: Dan Linehan

The majority of Covid vaccination centres are likely to be phased out in April, under longer-term plans being developed by the Government.

The Cabinet sub-committee on Covid met to discuss the winding down of testing and tracing, as well as changes to how the vaccine programme will operate.

However, it is expected that the rollout of vaccinations will continue for "some time" as many people contracted Covid over Christmas and the new year and were unable to receive a booster as a result.

It is expected that many in this group will be able to get a booster vaccine this month and next, which will mean there will be less demand for large-scale vaccination centres.

It is understood that the lease contracts for a number of centres are due to expire, and these will not be renewed.

Members of the committee also discussed the possible need for another round of boosters in the autumn.

Options being considered are the use of GP clinics, pharmacies, and 'pop-up' vaccination centres, depending on the demand and the recommendations provided around who should be vaccinated later in the year.

"It's early days in the planning, no hardline decisions have been made," said one source, who stressed that all plans would involve leaving a provision to scale up quickly if there is the need to do so.

Patients on trolleys trollies at Cork University Hospital.

Meanwhile, concern has been raised after the number of people on hospital trolleys during February surpassed pre-pandemic figures for the same month.

Figures released by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation show 9,869 patients were without a bed in the month of February, which was higher than the 8,515 recorded by their TrolleyWatch Report for February 2019.

Overcrowding was particularly severe in University Hospital Limerick, which had 1,498 patients on trolleys; Cork University Hospital, which recorded 807 people on trolleys; and Letterkenny University Hospital, which had a trolley count of 766.

INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said: “It has been an incredibly difficult month in Irish hospitals, with consistent overcrowding in all parts of the country.

Our nurses and midwives are under severe pressure, they are dealing with huge numbers of Covid and non-Covid patients presenting at emergency departments, coupled with inadequate staffing levels."

Ms Ní Sheaghdha said it is "extremely disappointing" that the HSE has not prioritised convening the Emergency Department Taskforce despite numerous requests.

“We are once again back in the bad old days of hospital overcrowding," she said.

Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane called on health minister to immediately reconvene the Emergency Department Taskforce.

He said a return to pre-pandemic days of overcrowded emergency departments underlines the failure of the Government to properly resource hospital capacity expansion and follow through on reforms.

“The high trolley count indicates that some hospitals are running dangerously over capacity," he said.

"This will have had consequences for patient care and the cancellation of surgeries and appointments."