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First vaccination clinics for vulnerable children held as hospitals face pressure due to Covid

The number of people in hospital with Covid jumped by 75 overnight.

LAST UPDATE | 29 Dec 2021

ONE OF THE first vaccination clinics for medically vulnerable children between 5-11 took place today at the Citywest vaccination centre, as Irish hospitals prepare for an increase in people presenting for treatment.

The HSE are rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine for children between 5-11 over the coming weeks, with high risk children being prioritised in line with guidance from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac).

The clinics are being held in either pediatric hospitals or vaccination centres, with children being given smaller doses of the vaccine.

At present, only children between 5-11 who have a healthcare condition that puts them at risk of severe illness from Covid-19 or live with someone who is at higher risk of Covid-19 can be registered for a jab.

The HSE have said that all other children will be invited to register in January.

Chief Medical Officer of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), Dr Allan Goldman is urging parents to avail of vaccination for their children.

“Although severe disease is rare, it does occur and can occur in children who were previously well. We would urge parents to seek information on the vaccination from reputable and scientific sources like hse.ie,” said Goldman.

A small number of patients of CHI at Temple Street, Crumlin, Tallaght and Connolly identified as in the highest clinical risk by paediatricians, are being vaccinated at the earliest opportunity at a dedicated clinic. If parents know that their child has an underlying medical condition, we would urge them to register their child on the HSE website now.

“The children’s vaccine is a source of relief and hope for many parents all over the country who have vulnerable children, or whose child is living with someone at higher risk,” said Dr Colm Henry, Chief Clinical Officer with the HSE.

“This vaccine has shown to offer protection from COVID-19, and will be given to children of this age in a smaller dose than the adult dose. ”

It comes as the hospital system faces pressure from the rising cases of Covid-19 in the community, as well as traditional winter illnesses and additional GP referrals.

Speaking this morning to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, HSE chief operations officer Anne O’Connor said the health service is busy across the board right now.

Activity is expected to ramp up further next week as it is traditionally when GPs begin referring more people to hospital after Christmas.

She said this is always a particularly busy time for Irish hospitals, both because of GP referrals and seasonal illnesses such as the flu, but that Covid continues to further complicate the situation.

Far fewer people as a percentage of overall case numbers are presenting with severe illness due to the widespread rollout of vaccines, but still enough to cause issues within the health service given the current record-high levels of infection.

Head of the Intensive Care Unit at University Hospital Limerick, Dr Catherine Motherway, says that ICUs are currently under “significant pressure” due to Covid-19 and other seasonal illnesses.

Speaking to RTÉ’s News at One, Motherway said that they are trying to provide care to all patients in ICU, but there are difficulties with staffing numbers due to hospital staff contracting Covid-19.

“We do expect to see a surge in admissions of Covid but we also have a difficulty in that a lot of people and a lot of staff themselves are isolating or actually have Covid at the moment,” said Motherway.

“So that is creating some challenges, but we’re working our way through it on a day-by-day basis.”

HSE boss Paul Reid said yesterday that the virus is ‘running rife’ in communities across the country.

The public testing system continues to come under unprecedented pressure, meaning some people requiring a test are facing delays or other difficulties in accessing one.

“The reality is, with the level of positivity that we are seeing, testing can only do so much,” O’Connor said, conceding that it was frustrating for members of the public who are struggling to access a PCR test.

Some testing sites are reporting that as many as half of people presenting are testing positive.

According to data released by the Department of Health, there were 16,959 positive swabs reported today out of 37,503 swabs taken. The positivity rate for these swabs is 45.22%.

Over the last seven days, the positivity rate of all Covid-19 PCR tests has been 34.9%, as massive demand for testing continues across the country.

Hospitalisations

As of 8.30am this morning there were 521 people in hospital with Covid, an increase of 75 on the previous day (100 admissions and 25 discharges) and up from 378 on Christmas Day.

92 people with Covid were receiving intensive care as of 11.30am yesterday.

As of last week, 3,800 healthcare staff were absent either due to Covid infection or after being designated a close contact.

According to Motherway, half of the people currently in ICU are either unvaccinated or within a younger cohort, while the remaining half have underlying conditions, are immunocompromised, or are elderly.

“We’re seeing some of our sites challenged now in terms of beds not being able to open as a result of staffing challenges,” O’Connor said.

We do expect that that will deteriorate over the coming weeks, our sites are preparing for that.

O’Connor added that it was important for members of the public to continue to isolate if they have symptoms or a positive antigen test while they await a PCR test “as that is what will make the difference”.

Boosters

Meanwhile, the rollout of booster vaccines – which yesterday hit the milestone of 2,000,000 doses administered in Ireland – is being extended to people aged 30 to 39 from today.

Those aged 16-29 who received a Janssen primary dose are also being invited for a booster jab.

And in an interview published in The Irish Times today, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said he expects the current wave of infection, driven by the Omicron variant, to pass sooner than previous surges and peaking in the next week.

Cancellations

Due to rising case numbers across the country, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra have cancelled their New Year’s Day concert at the National Concert Hall.

In a statement, the orchestra said: “The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra’s New Year’s Day concert at the National Concert Hall will not take place due to concerns relating to rising case numbers of Covid-19 in the community.”

“All customers will be contacted directly and refunded through the National Concert Hall Box Office.”

Additional reporting by Tadgh McNally

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    Mute Seamus West
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    May 27th 2013, 4:39 PM

    The headline “Ireland’s proximity to Europe…”, I alawys thought we were in Europe!!

    93
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    Mute Gar.
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    May 27th 2013, 5:29 PM

    So what if its only one job. Every job created needs to be advertised to get people’s spirits up. Some moaners love doom and gloom.

    61
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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    May 27th 2013, 5:30 PM

    Nicely said Gar!

    29
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    Mute stupidlambu
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    May 27th 2013, 5:39 PM

    Af for god sake people cop on and wake up this is nothing in the scheme of things and also it is over 3yrs and we dont know if they are well paying or not.

    12
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    Mute Maria Farrell
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    May 27th 2013, 5:49 PM

    @ Stupidlambu
    It’s not about how long they take to create all the jobs or how well they pay. I come from Kells and this will be a huge boost to the town. The loss of Quinn Insurance and the collapse of the construction industry was a massive blow to employment for young people in the town. I personally welcome any new employment opportunities for my friends and family.

    43
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    Mute richardmccarthy
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    May 27th 2013, 6:43 PM

    You might call this negative, but as long as people in this country cant be bothered to get up off their a***s and provide themselves with employment by their own enterprising efforts ,they will continue to always rely on others to provide the jobs.

    19
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    Mute Mgt Helena Byrne
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    May 28th 2013, 12:48 AM

    So true!!

    1
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    Mute Martin Byrne
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    May 27th 2013, 4:37 PM

    Next they will be announcing that the local chipper employed someone.

    55
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    Mute Mark Garrigan
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    May 27th 2013, 4:30 PM

    Woo hoo!All them jobs over the next 3 years….Well done

    51
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    Mute marcus de paor
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    May 27th 2013, 4:27 PM

    The government has an action plan for jobs ?…. now that’s news. .. though it was just an action plan for debt hobbling and emigration. … still good news for kells and it’s people…. lovely town

    43
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    Mute Scrap Croke Park1
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    May 27th 2013, 4:46 PM

    Don’t want to cynical but why must all employees come from the live register? Are these JobBridge positions? €50 a week jobs?

    Let’s hope they’re real jobs but here’s another question. If its part of the Succeed-In-Ireland program who gets the €1,500+ reward per job? No problem if it’s a genuine effort on someone’s part to get this company here but would love to know if they have FG connections

    42
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    Mute Hubert Morris
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    May 28th 2013, 10:56 AM

    I will and I’m a member of FF party

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    Mute Adam Hurley
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    May 27th 2013, 4:56 PM

    Moan Moan Moan Moan Moan….now I feel like I fit in.

    34
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    Mute Vincent Dolan
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    May 27th 2013, 5:29 PM

    You need to throw in a “unsecured bond holders” somewhere to truly belong…

    25
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    Mute W.j.d.
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    May 27th 2013, 5:55 PM

    If only 1 person gets to stay and live in the country of their birth…. It’s a start….

    17
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    Mute Declan Hickey
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    May 27th 2013, 5:55 PM

    Sweet Jesus where are the muppets in government when 70 jobs are lost at once? Oh wait…they couldn’t be arsed.

    14
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    Mute Declan Carr
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    May 27th 2013, 6:11 PM

    Good news for the people of Kells that is if any of the people of Kells get the any of the jobs, and do you have any idea what year it is going to happen?

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    Mute Pablo
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    May 27th 2013, 6:50 PM

    What is basalt fibre and what is it used for? Sounds like there will be manufacturing at the plant and thats a good thing..

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    Mute Jangles
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    May 27th 2013, 9:13 PM

    Its replacing the local hemp fibre industry recently busted by the Gardai.

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    Mute Pablo
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    May 27th 2013, 9:58 PM

    Put my name down for a job so. Ill bring me own lamps..

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    Mute Mark Copas
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    May 27th 2013, 6:26 PM

    Wondering here when next big business shuts will minister be there for photos. Ida is bankrolling all new business. Fecking joke

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    Mute Michael Lawlor
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    May 28th 2013, 2:17 PM

    Some people just love pissing and moaning about everything… probably why the country has always messed up to many whiners with negative outlooks.

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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    May 27th 2013, 9:11 PM

    Anyone know what Basalt Fibre is?

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    Mute Jack Bowden
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    May 27th 2013, 9:19 PM

    I googled it. It’s a bit like fibreglass but has different properties.
    There is no basalt in Meath though, as far as I know. Antrim is the only place in the island you find basalt.

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    Mute Arbuthnot Fink
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    May 28th 2013, 2:21 AM

    BASALT!

    1
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