Pharmacies have wait lists of thousands as younger cohorts scramble for Covid vaccines

An additional 70,000-80,000 doses will be distributed later this week

The vaccination team of Deirdre Roberts, Barry Broderick, and Lisa Kehily at Broderick's Chemist on Barrack St, Cork, on the first morning of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout at pharmacies for the 18-34 age group. Picture: Dan Linehan

Pharmacies now have waiting lists of more than 9,000 young people anxious to get the one-shot Janssen vaccine.

However, limited vaccine supply is restricting the rollout, with many pharmacies only receiving one box of 50 vaccine doses a week.  

Many of the few pharmacies that were selected to administer Covid vaccines to those aged 18-34 from Monday are already booked out for many weeks in advance.

Demand is so high that the HSE is sending out additional deliveries this week.

“The HSE will distribute another 70,000 to 80,000 later this week. There’s huge positivity among pharmacists, and the people getting vaccinated are so delighted,” said Irish Pharmacy Union secretary general Darragh O’ Loughlin.

This means each pharmacy will be able to reach up to 100 more people although the demand appears to be even higher.

Also, 350 pharmacies in areas without mass vaccination centres are receiving small deliveries of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

A HSE spokesman said, for now, these are only available to customers aged 35 and over. 

“The use of Pfizer vaccine in both pharmacy and GP settings is confined to those in the age cohorts who have been called forward for vaccination.”

Cliodhna Kelly, Sunday's Well, Cork, who got her vaccine at Broderick's Chemist on Barrack St, Cork, on the first morning of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout at pharmacies for the 18-34 age group. Picture: Dan Linehan

The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) said that mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna were still preferable for those aged 18-49 due to the risk of rare blood clots from adenoviral vector vaccines such as AstraZeneca and Janssen.

But athlete Diarmuid O’Connor, 19, was very relieved to get the Janssen vaccine yesterday at Broderick's Pharmacy on Barrack St in Cork.

“I was quick to ring [to book the vaccine] because this summer I’m travelling to Estonia for two weeks with athletics for the European Championships in the decathlon," he said.

“It’s a massive relief to be able to go there and not be afraid of the risks of Covid.

“Over the last few months I’ve travelled and it’s been really difficult without the vaccine. There’s a massive advantage to having the vaccine already instead of having to get constant antigen tests. Once you have the vaccine you’re in the clear for those kinds of things.

“It’s good to get it done and be able to do what I want to do with less restrictions."

“Everyone’s going for it and applying. I know that all of these pharmacies are booked out completely with people trying to get in the door.

“It was quick, easy, no pain really, nice to get it done,” said Mr O'Connor. 

Barry Broderick, pharmacist and owner of Broderick’s Pharmacy on Barrack St in Cork, said that demand among young people for the vaccine has been overwhelming.

Despite registering more than 1,000 people for the Janssen vaccine on Friday alone, the pharmacy had only 50 doses to administer so far this week to those aged 18-34 and those aged over 50.

But Mr Broderick hopes that at least one more box of 50 vaccines will arrive before the end of this week.

"We’re limited by our supply," he said. "We have an online booking portal and we had to close it down on Friday because we had over 1,000 registrations on Friday alone.

"We’re going to get jabs in arms within 48 hours. The minute it comes in we schedule the appointments and keep it moving.

"You feel a bit bad when you can’t satisfy demand. One good thing is that the 18-34-year-old cohort will be able to go live on the HSE portal next Monday. That wasn’t the case before. So they can opt to go down the Pfizer route or opt-in for the AstraZeneca. 

"If we had enough vaccines we’d get through them at a fast rate.

Pharmacy student Long Nguyen also had his Janssen vaccine at Broderick's Pharmacy yesterday.

"I feel very lucky and very thrilled to get myself vaccinated, one shot and all done," he said.

Emma Healy, Macroom, Co Cork, getting her vaccine from chemist Barry Broderick at Broderick's Chemist. Picture: Dan Linehan

Conor Phelan, pharmacist and owner of Phelan’s pharmacies, now has more than 9,000 people registered for the Janssen vaccine.

They began the rollout to eager 18-34-year-olds at 7am yesterday.

“We have more than 9,000 people registered and we’re going to plough through that list. We can get through a couple of thousand a week if we had the supply," said Mr Phelan.

“We have 50 doses per pharmacy and some of those are for the over-50s as well."

But with enough supply, Phelan’s is ready to roll out thousands of vaccines a week, he said, with a mini vaccination centre set up close to their pharmacy in Carrigaline, Cork.

Rose Murphy of Murphy’s Pharmacy on North Main St, Cork, said that they quickly booked up all available vaccines one month in advance and then they had to close appointments. 

“We were annihilated on Friday obviously because of the announcement. I’d say there was definitely between 300 and 500 calls. The phone didn’t stop ringing.

"We’re vaccinating now and we’re well organised. We have been doing over-50s up to now so we’ve been able to check that the system is working. 

"We’re doing it after work because we’re a small place and we have to continue looking after our patients and satisfy our daily work. It’s a challenge but it’s good to be able to help out. 

"If we can help to get people vaccinated a bit quicker it’s great, every avenue needs to be used. GPs, pharmacies, HSE centres, if you utilise everyone then we’ll get it done faster. If we work together, that’s the name of the game."

Diarmuid O'Connor, from Ballinhassig, Co Cork, gets his Janssen vaccine at Broderick's Chemist. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

A pharmacist in Millstreet, Co Cork, took over 200 phone calls from young people on Friday.

Like hundreds of pharmacists, Mairead Reen found out while listening to the radio that pharmacies can vaccinate people aged 18 to 34 from this week, as well as over-50s.

She is “absolutely thrilled” but “disappointed” that the announcement came before pharmacists were fully informed.

“It’s great news,” she said. “We are delighted to be rolling it out but we don’t have supply at the moment.” 

“I’ve had loads of parents ringing up, wanting to get vaccines for their kids.”