In response to recent questions by listeners to Midwest News over the rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations in the service provider Western Care Association, Midwest News contacted the HSE Community Healthcare West.
Listeners expressed concerns over Management at Western Care receiving the vaccine, while they claimed frontline workers in the organisation and service users have not received the jab, as yet.
Western Care works with people with a wide range of learning and associated disabilities across county Mayo.
In response today Community Healthcare West states:
Vaccine rollout plans must be flexible to accommodate unforeseen events and to operate in what is an evolving and fluid situation internationally. A key factor of the rollout strategy is to reduce the risk of any wastage.
Western care has advised the HSE in regard to the distribution of a very limited number of vaccines across the organisation, the decision of who to vaccinate was taken within a very short-timeframe having regard for the following:
- Prioritisation status for frontline workers – this did include service managers across Western Care as they work directly in services and are designated as priority 1 staff.
- Impact on service delivery if this person contracted COVID-19 and the implication for disruption to the organisation.
Western Care Executive Management Team allocated capacity across all geographical areas of the organisation and across all service categories. A feature of this vaccination process was that vaccinations were delivered in Galway and those allocated to receive them had to be able to commit to travel at short notice.
The statement concludes, the HSE is committed to improving the targeting of the limited supplies of vaccine available for those frontline healthcare workers to the greatest extent that is practical based on the sequencing document /protocol in place.
The HSE vaccination rollout continues this week, with over 94,000 doses administered as of 17th January 2020.
