Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall TD has spoken out strongly against the news today that the Beacon Hospital gave 20 surplus vaccines to teachers in a nearby private school.
She said:
“What happened this week at the Beacon is completely unacceptable. The hospital ignored the sequencing protocol in favour of passing on the surplus vaccines to private school teachers.
“It undermines confidence in the entire vaccination rollout and is extremely disappointing, especially for our older people and those at high-risk. These groups in particular have taken extreme caution to safeguard themselves over the past year, and the vaccine has the potential to transform their lives.
“The hospital Chief Executive needs to be fully accountable for what happened, and he should be clear about the relationship between the hospital and the school in question. Why was this school contacted in particular?
“There is also the issue of how 200 people came to be double booked for the vaccine in the Beacon Hospital and Aviva Stadium. The Minister needs to look into this issue and how it occurred, whether it was an IT error or human error, so that it does not happen again.”
March 26, 2021