Notorious serial killer John Shaw and sadistic paedophile John McClean have received their Covid-19 vaccine behind bars.
Inmates who are aged 70 or over were given their first dose of jabs in the past number of weeks, the Irish Sunday Mirror can reveal.
Prisoners with serious underlying health conditions have also been inoculated and those in the 64-70 age bracket – including paedophile Bill Kenneally – are due to be vaccinated next week.
The news follows calls by the Prison Officers Association for clarity from the Government on when staff will get the jab to protect them in their
frontline work.
It also comes as distraught grandmother Anne Kelly, from Ashbourne in Co Meath, was last night still waiting for her first dose.
The 86-year-old is on a list to be vaccinated by the National Ambulance Service, but her family were told it was “inundated” with requests.
Anne was first called for her vaccine on March 8 but as she is housebound was put on the NAS list instead.
Her furious daughter Adrienne told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “My whole point since day one on this is the lack of communication. Nobody telling you what’s going on... I couldn’t even be sure she was on the National Ambulance list.
“We’ve still no idea when or if she will be vaccinated. She’s very distressed about it, she’s living in fear. She’s in a bubble.
“Mammy is very bad with arthritis. We ring her on the landline. She shouldn’t have to be like that. It’s an absolute shambles.”
A spokesman for the HSE last night assured that existing “community call” transport arrangements for over-70s to and from their GP would continue.
He added: “There are a relatively small number of older people who, due to illness or frailty, are housebound and cannot avail of the existing community call arrangements to attend their GP practice.
“The HSE has set up a system that GPs can refer these patients to the National Ambulance Service for their vaccination.
"To date, more than 1,800 have been contacted to receive their vaccination, while approx. 1,500 people have been ultimately vaccinated in their homes by the National Ambulance Service in this way.
“There are approximately 1,000 people yet to receive their vaccination but we will get to everyone over the next few weeks.”
Meanwhile, POA assistant general secretary Gabriel Keaveney said while officers had no issue with inmates getting the vaccine in line with public health advice, they want to know when staff will get their jabs.
He told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “We fully endorse the health advice in relation to prisoners.
“However, that should also apply in relation to prison staff and we should clearly be told when staff are getting it.”
The POA stated on Friday that during the first quarter of this year, 59 prisoners were admitted to public hospitals as inpatients, involving 2,080 officers on escort duty, and 24,960 hours of potential increased exposure to the virus.
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service confirmed vaccinations began just over two weeks ago. He said: “The Irish Prison Service can confirm a small number of prisoners have received their first Covid-19 vaccinations on Wednesday, March 31, 2021.
“The Covid-19 vaccination is being made available to people in prisons in line with the Provisional Vaccine Allocation Groups published by the Government.
“All prisoners have the legal right to access the same level healthcare services as those enjoyed by the general population.”
Last night, the National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed it had been notified of four additional deaths related to Covid-19, bringing the total to 4,835.
As of midnight, Friday, April 16, the HPSC has been notified of 420 confirmed cases of Covid-19 – with 243,238 cases here since the pandemic began.
