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VETS, RADIOGRAPHERS, DENTAL hygienists, and healthcare students could be trained up to administer the Covid-19 vaccine.
In an update to Cabinet today on the vaccine rollout today, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said up to 800 vaccinators are needed for April and May to staff the vaccine centres.
As we move into the summer, more will have to be recruited, ministers were told.
The health service estimates it will need between 2,500 and 5,000 vaccinators to operate seven days a week across 38 national vaccination centres.
Through its recent recruitment drive, the HSE has so far hired almost 1,100 people to work in these centres, with many already in place.
HSE CEO Paul Reid said last week said a further 700 are going through final clearance and another 1,700 are still going through the process but have been deemed suitable for the roles.
In total this could bring the staffing level through this recruitment campaign alone to 3,700 vaccinators, with a mix of both full-time and part-time staff.
This would be in addition to the HSE staff who have already been deployed to the centres.
The majority of vaccination centres will operate seven days a week.
Cabinet was told today that the Department of Health has this week been asked to consider training disciplines such as radiographers, dental hygienists, vets and healthcare students to administer the vaccine.
The Cabinet was also told the rollout will require increases in admin and support staff, and a framework has been agreed to facilitate this by Local Authorities and regional Government Departments.
Donnelly said that a pilot involving 15 community pharmacies will also be launched by the end of this month, to test operational arrangements ahead of pharmacists being used in the rollout of the vaccine.
As the age cohorts are moved through, and with an anticipation of vaccinating greater numbers in the summer months, the Department of Transport are also analysing public bus routes to vaccination centres to assess if a higher level of service is required, given existing restrictions on capacity.
Ministers also discussed the adjustment to the vaccine rollout following NIAC advice on AstraZeneca, the pause in Johnson & Johnson rollout, and the additional supplies from Pfizer.
Cabinet were also informed about the additional functionality that will be added to the ICT system as the rollout ramps up and as new vaccines are approved.
Ministers also discussed the possibillity of ‘green certs’, and were told the HSE and the Office of the Government’s Chief Information Officer has developed an IT system that can provide a medical record of vaccines received, which will also contain the batch number of the vaccines received.
The Covid-19 Senior Officials Group is also looking at the issue of the use of vaccine certs domestically and as part of the EC Digital Green Certificate system.
On 28 April, the European Parliament is to vote on whether to introduce Digital Green Certificates to allow for travel around the EU.
It is understood that vaccine passports or ‘green certs’ are under consideration at government level when it comes to reopening hospitality.
However, sources were quick to point out that it could be the case of there being multiple options available – such as someone having a vaccination cert, or someone having to present a negative antigen test – for people that are not vaccinated.
While it is very early days in terms of international travel, it is understood that the government is in favour of countries offering a lot of flexibility, such as an option of presenting a vaccination cert plus a negative antigen test, or just vaccination proof, or an antigen test on its own.
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Yes of course. This should have been done weeks ago.
I’ve been saying from the get-go that vets are the best vaccinators. I might get a haircut cut too while I’m in there. Happy days.
@Vonvonic:
I’ve been working with and injecting animals for over 40 years, I reckon I could do as good as job as any!
@Mary Walshe: I wasnt being funny. I meant that. In my experience, vets are the best vaccinators because they vaccinate multiple species. I was joking about the haircut though.
@Vonvonic: no sign of Mary to offer you a haircut
@Tom kenny:
I’m a dab hand at that too Tom, been keeping the hubby’s hair for the past few months! Otherwise he’d look like Mad Jack from Grizzly Adams!
@Mary Walshe: I hope you have good indemnity. Irish lawyers have started advertising for claims about poor vaccinators!
@Mary Walshe: Fair enough, let us know where d the queue starts? Hire a few shearers – I’ve a head like a Dulux dog!
They haven’t even set us (the pharmacists) up yet, should have been done months ago in preparation for ramping up of supply.
Same old HSE
I know a registered practising nurse who applied to be a vaccinator in early Feb (an arduous affair apparently). She attended all training in early March and had done all online training and updates sent since and it still hasn’t been confirmed she will be employed. Just what the he11 is going on in the HSE?
@Cez Miname: I’m in the same boat.
@Maria Monaghan: me too
@Cez Miname: Baffled by this. I can understand a pilot rollout to the first pharmacies willing & able to offer them, but surely they should have thousands recruited by now?
OMG, they are going training vets how to give injections! A profession that give injections not only on a daily but probably an hourly basis!
@Laura McCarthy: well, from what I can remember helping out at my cousin’s farm growing up, when it comes to the style vets use for injections, compared to that of doctors, they tend to be a lil bit rougher, and we complain too much. Besides, most of the training the vets would need is in how to deal with the giving out from mouthy human patients, and to resist the urge to put a muzzle on them, even if they do deserve it.
@Laura McCarthy: I’d say it’s more training for worst case scenario. What to do if a patient has an allergic reaction to the vaccine, etc.
@Sophie: very rare. 1 trained response team is all that’s needed to cover a whole vac centre. Why would they be bothering overskilling everybody, it’s mad and very expensive.
@Sophie: very rare. 1 trained response team is all that’s needed to cover a whole vac centre. Why would they be bothering over skilling everybody, it’s just mad and very expensive. They’re Garda Vetting every single vaccinator too as if those guys haven’t enough to do.
@Cez Miname: It’s probably because some nutcase in America took it on himself to leave an expensive batch of doses out of any fridges. Google Steven Brandenburg Wisconsin.
Yes my wife is training as a nurse and giving injections on a daily basis, wouldn’t make sense to employ them for the summer months allow them to earn some money and get on with this roll out. But common sense isn’t very common in government
@Hugh Mc Donnell: Seems the most logical straightforward approach to me. Meanwhile we hear how overworked and exhausted hospital staff are. They honestly seem determined to employ as few people as possible.
They were training these exact people in the UK in September last year. Irish government aren’t reinventing the wheel they are dragging it instead. Absolute joke.
@Liam Fogarty: oh stop with the constant complaining. We’ve over 10% of the population vaccinated. We are fully on course with and ahead of many of counterparts. UK and USA are far ahead fair enough. Everyone has a great idea of what we should do. But when the company doesn’t or can’t provide it’s not the Govts. Fault. Secondly giving an IM is one thing, being trained to already have an understanding of what you are being educated on to give , and be able to advise others is another thing.
@Brendan Harlowe: 10% of the population fully vaccinated? Nope. We are also behind most EU countries now. Fair enough we got less than what was expected but we are months behind on recruitment. It basically says it here. We have also left loopholes all over the system, double booked people for vaccines and left it very late to tell GPs about non delivery etc. We have know for over 6 months vaccines were imminent and are still scrambling to hire vaccinations, with a ridiculous application process that is taking months. People complaining because our Government made an absolute mess of handling the pandemic and they appear to be on course to do the same with vaccinations. EMA basically said J&J is mostly safe today. Netherlands starting rollout tomorrow. What are we doing?
@Brendan Harlowe: Your population stats are out of date. We have nearly 5m people living in Ireland so 7% of people fully vaccinated
@Niall O: But that’s counting everyone from newborns up. We’re only offering vaccines to people over 16 – I don’t know how many that is, although obviously plenty of people will be 17 before they get a text to go to a centre!
@Brendan Harlowe: By IM do you mean intra muscular? Vaccinators don’t have to educate or advise the recipients they just have to give them the jab. It’s really that simple. Once they’ve had it they can wait the 15 minutes in case of an adverse reaction and on they go. A trained doctor/nurse can mind 10-20 patients at a time like they do in hospitals then get the next group in. They can give them literature explaining the jab and that’s it. Like I said it’s not reinventing the wheel. This process is tried and tested all around the world even prior to covid
Vets? The Pharmacist don’t have it yet..
Hard enough to get a vet appointment as it is , where would they find time to vaccinate
how would the vet explain John getting the kennel cough, and Rex getting the Covid jab. Hmmm
At this stage i’d stand outside with my black bin next Monday morning for the bin men to give me the jab.
@Damien Cahill: an you might have better luck.
Matt from Busted is horsing them out in the U.K. it’s really not that difficult!
Is the application process to be become an official vaccinator accessible to those who are eligible?
@SmidgenDublin: Yep it’s being done through CPL I know someone who applied for the job back in February and only started this week.
What about the milkman
Ha the conspiracy theorists will have a field day twisting this headline
When ?
Not sure about the rest but vets are flat out
It doesn’t matter who is recruited to give the jab if the vaccine isn’t there. Once again AstraZeneca has let us down on supply, and proved themselves once again to be a cowboy company. Time to release the Johnson and Johnson vaccine if we are to be vaccinated at all this year.
It’s not rocket science
Another well thought out strategie!
Next thing the heroin addict will be brought in. When the pharmacies started giving the flu jabs I commented to my GP how good it was. His reply, “you think”.
It is he said but I’m seeing a lot of those that were given the jab here. Reasons being, not injecting into the muscle, injecting to near bone.
I know a few guys in the local good at darts they’d be sure to chip in ! ha
Sure I may as well get sterilised while I’m there. Shame to waste an opportunity.
A lota of Journal posters would benefit from a visit to the vet!
A trained monkey could give that jab…its a skin pop to the top of the arm for God’s sake, not an iv injection.
In the states the military do it. Train the Defences forces here also
have your say