An investigation has been demanded after a relative of a HSE employee made a round trip of more than 100km to receive a Covid-19 vaccination.
The person was not on the vaccination list of around 200 HSE staff who got the jabs at The Vestry building at St Conal’s Campus in Letterkenny, Donegal last weekend.
The woman is not a HSE employee, but received the vaccine after there was a small number of vaccines left over.
The vaccinations were administered by members of the National Ambulance Service on the day.
Other HSE staff also received vaccinations at Medical 5 at Letterkenny University Hospital on the same day.
HSE staff who were present during the incident at The Vestry have expressed their anger that a person who is not a frontline HSE worker and did not fit any criteria to receive the jab.
One HSE employee said serious questions also need to be answered about why the person travelled the length of Donegal to receive the vaccine.
The office of the National Director of the Ambulance Service has been contacted by disgruntled staff about the issue.
A letter sent by staff of the ambulance service was sent to the director’s office outlining their concerns at the incident.
We contacted the Director’s office at the NAS but were told that all press queries were handled by the HSE press office.
A spokesperson for the HSE said cases of vaccine roll out which do not follow protocol will be fully investigated.
“The HSE is rolling out the vaccine programme in line with the Provisional Vaccine Allocation Groups that the government published on December 8 and updated last month. This is critical given the limited supply of vaccine.
“The HSE has developed a set of principles for the sequencing of COVID-19 vaccinations to frontline healthcare workers which supports the government allocation groups.
“Any instances where the roll-out of the vaccine in line with the provisional allocation groups is not adhered to will be fully investigated,” said a spokesperson.
When asked if this particular incident will be investigated, the HSE spokesperson said they would not be making any further comment on the matter.
However, an employee of the National Ambulance Service said the matter should be fully investigated.
The person, who asked not to be identified said: “We have tried to roll out the vaccine and adhere to all the strict criteria so that everything is transparent here.
“Then this happens and the whole integrity of the Ambulance Service is questioned.
“The reality is that this vaccine should have been offered to another HSE employee or an elderly person in the next age category who would have been glad of it.
“It is difficult to imagine that a town like Letterkenny which has the largest population in Donegal did not have dozens of people waiting for the vaccine at the drop of a hat.
“Are they really trying to tell us that every single HSE worker in the hospital on that day had been vaccinated? All they had to have done was go across the road 50 yards and ask.
“This person traveled a round trip of more than 100 kilometres and ended up in Letterkenny and was able to get a vaccine.
“This person is not a HSE worker, is not in any of the age categories currently being given or waiting on the vaccine and should not have been given the vaccine.
“The question must be asked as to why this person ended up at a vaccination centre so far from their home and how they were given access to the centre and to the vaccine.”
