Roll-out of COVID-19 'Booster' vaccines for 60-69 age group in Mid-West from this Friday
Booster vaccine clinics for Healthcare Workers to begin in coming days
Walk-In Clinics for Dose 1 & Dose 2 vaccines continue at Mid-West centres
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 4th, 2021 | UL Hospitals Group vaccination teams are stepping up the COVID-19 immunisation effort in the Mid-West from this Friday, November 5th, when they begin delivering ‘Booster’ vaccines to fully vaccinated people in the 60-69 age group.
People aged 60-69 in the Mid-West will be notified by text message about their Booster appointments. The first clinics for this cohort are being scheduled this Friday at the COVID-19 Vaccination Centres in Limerick Racecourse and the Ennis West County Hotel, and at all three Mid-West area vaccination centres (Limerick, Ennis and the Nenagh Abbey Court Hotel) on Saturday.
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) has recommended a minimum time period of six months to have elapsed since the date of Dose 2 delivery before the Booster dose is offered. Booster dose appointments, scheduled from the information on the vaccination register, will be offered first to older people with the earliest Dose 2 delivery dates.
Regardless of which COVID-19 vaccine course people had previously, they will be offered a single Booster dose of mRNA vaccine.
Also this week, the UL Hospitals Group vaccination team is preparing to offer Booster vaccine doses to healthcare workers across the region in the coming days. This is part of the national campaign to deliver Booster doses to approximately 300,000 people across the State, aged under 60 years, who are identified as healthcare workers on the Covax online vaccination portal.
Healthcare workers in the Mid-West will receive a scheduled appointment to receive a Booster vaccine dose at one of the region’s three COVID-19 vaccination centres. Booster clinics for healthcare workers are scheduled to get under way in all three vaccination centres in Limerick, Ennis and Nenagh, in the coming days.
"It's very welcome that the COVID-19 vaccine booster programme for healthcare workers will be finalised in the coming days," said UL Hospitals Group Chief Operations Officer, Noreen Spillane. "Vaccination has been a hugely positive contributor to our ability to deliver safe healthcare. Especially now, when high transmission of COVID-19 presents a greater risk to healthcare workers and patients, there is great anticipation for the Booster programme among our staff."
Ms Spillane added: "I also encourage all healthcare workers in the Mid-West to get a flu vaccine, at the staff flu vaccine clinics currently running at the Mid-West Vaccination Centres. Getting a flu vaccine helps to minimise risks to colleagues, patients and their loved ones this winter, as well as contributing towards the UNICEF campaign to immunise children in the developing world against polio."
Separately this coming weekend, UL Hospitals Group vaccinators will be holding walk-in clinics for people aged 12 years and older who have not yet received Dose 1 or Dose 2 vaccines. These clinics are strictly for Dose 1 and Dose 2 vaccines and should not be attended by anyone seeking a third vaccine dose. Walk-in clinics will be held this Friday at Limerick and Nenagh, and Saturday in Ennis as follows:
Friday November 5th
Limerick Racecourse
Pfizer Dose 1 & 2
3.00pm-7.00pm
Friday November 5th
Nenagh, Abbey Court Hotel
Pfizer Dose 1 & 2
2.00pm-7.00pm
Saturday November 6th
Ennis, West County Hotel
Pfizer Dose 1 & 2
3.00pm-7.00pm
Anyone attending a walk-in clinic for Dose 2 should bring their vaccine record card. A minimum of 21 days must have passed after Pfizer Dose 1 before Dose 2 is administered. This should be observed also for people who have received AstraZeneca Dose 1 and who are presenting for Pfizer Dose 2.
No appointment is necessary for the walk-in Dose 1 and Dose 2 clinics, and there is no requirement to register on the national vaccine registration portal. However, please note that children under 16 years must be accompanied to centres by a parent or guardian.
For identification, anyone attending should bring their birth certificate, or a photo ID (i.e., driving licence, Public Services Card, travel pass, passport, Garda-issued National Age Card, or school or college ID). For queries, contact the local HSE-approved helpline number on 087-9681240 (9am-6pm, seven days a week). All walk-in clinic dates and times and related information will be published on the HSE website here. Outside of these walk-in clinics, parents or guardians of children aged 12 to 15 may continue to register children on the HSE website via this link.
To close of business last Sunday, October 31st, UL Hospitals Group vaccination teams had delivered a total of 374,283 COVID-19 vaccines since the Mid-West vaccination programme began on January 4th. This includes doses delivered under the Booster programme for people aged 80 and older, and for those aged 65 and over who live in long-term residential care facilities, in addition to the Dose 3 programme for people with weakened immune systems who do not generate the full immune response to the first two vaccine doses. The total does not include the vaccination work undertaken to date by our colleagues in HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare, the National Ambulance Service, General Practitioners and pharmacists.
UL Hospitals Group continues working to ensure that everyone in the Mid-West will receive a vaccine, in line with national guidance on COVID-19 vaccination. We urge anyone who has yet to receive their primary Dose 1 and Dose 2 vaccines to attend this weekend's walk-in clinics. Anyone with queries about COVID-19 vaccination may contact the national helpline on 1850-241850.