The closure of a vaccination centre tomorrow for horse racing - just five days after it opened - has sparked outrage in the west.
Jabs have been given out at Limerick Racecourse since Tuesday, but it will close on Saturday, next Friday and for three days in July.
Sinn Féin TD for Limerick Maurice Quinlivan told RTE: “It is an affront to the people of Limerick that this commercial activity would trump the vaccination program at a time when we have seen a worrying rise of Covid numbers in Limerick.
“It’s farcical in the extreme that this vaccine centre will be closed to facilitate a horse race meeting.”
A spokesperson for the University of Limerick Hospitals Group, which is overseeing vaccinations there, said: “Next week, due to the acceleration of vaccine administration locally, made possible by our relocation to Limerick Racecourse, there will be 24,000 vaccines delivered at the Racecourse centre, and approximately 14,000 between the centres at Ennis and Nenagh.
“The pausing of the programme at the Racecourse centre to accommodate a scheduled race meeting on Saturday and on four other days in June and July, will not delay the administration of vaccine because of the increased vaccination capacity at the Racecourse, which holds a maximum of 46 vaccination booths compared with the 32 available at the Radisson Blu.”
