The HSE and government should not present misleading information on the success of the rollout of the national Covid 19 vaccination programme. That was the view expressed by Castlebar Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council this afternoon.

He said it’s wrong that both the HSE and government are running advertisements across the media claiming that all over 85 year olds have been vaccinated against Covid 19, yet he says he knows of a 94 year old woman in county Mayo that has not received any vaccine.

He says the woman has been given two separate dates to receive the jab and on both occasions the appointments were cancelled. She is not the only person in the county, he insisted, aged  80 and higher that has not secured a first vaccine, as yet.

The cllr was responding to a statement by the Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council Richard Finn at the start of today’s meeting where he was urging everyone to continue to comply with public health regulations and he said the rollout of the vaccine was already making the future brighter.

He advised everyone to be aware of what he termed “fake news” about the Covid 19 vaccine and he said misinformation on the success of the vaccine in combating the pandemic needs to be challenged.

He urged everyone to get vaccinated at the first possible opportunity,  and he said he will be delighted to get the jab as soon as it’s made available to him.