Tender contract for diagnostics and companies from non-public sector finalised
After preliminary supply of 10,000 doses of the primary vaccine in opposition to Covid-19 due on St Stephen’s Day, the Well being Service Government (HSE) expects an additional 31,000 doses to reach inside days.
The primary anticipated scheduled supply is 9,750 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in 10 packing containers on 26 December.
“The plan is to vaccinate, not less than, some long run care residents on December 30 and 31, as a part of our Day One and Day Two plan, and likewise some healthcare employees in acute hospitals,” HSE Chief Government, Paul Reid, instructed the most recent media briefing yesterday afternoon (December 23).
Dialogue was persevering with with Pfizer across the supply schedule for January and February.
The HSE draft schedule has deliberate for the preliminary rollout to be adopted by two three-week ‘sweeps’, beginning in January, throughout long-term care amenities for residents and workers.
Whereas nonetheless underneath dialogue, 4 hospitals – St. James’s Hospital and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, Cork College Hospital and Galway College Hospital – had been anticipated to be the preliminary acute places for vaccination of healthcare workers. This was to proceed and develop in subsequent weeks however can be primarily based on the out there quantity of vaccines.
Reid certified that every one plans and projections had been conditional till that they had full settlement throughout the European Union (EU), and with Pfizer and BioNTech.
All figures and discussions had been geared to an anticipated scheduled supply of simply over 40,000 doses within the first week, and that was the goal they had been discussing and mobilising in direction of.
Consumables related to vaccination programme, reminiscent of needles and syringes, had been “picked and packed” and can be dispatched to the vaccination hubs from 29 December.
An ongoing course of round coaching and communication schedules was “occurring over the approaching days”.
Turning to the IT system being developed for the vaccination programme; he stated IBM and Salesforce groups had been working with all groups throughout the HSE to agree the ultimate scope for the ‘go-live’ system.
“This can be a course of we’re doing in 10 days; in regular instances IT design and deployment can be nearer to 4 to 6 months,” stated Reid. The system was anticipated earlier than the top of the yr however he added that that they had a contingency answer, ought to they not meet the timelines they anticipated with IBM.
In relation to hospital outbreaks, the state of affairs nationally “had improved significantly”, the briefing heard from Chief Operations Officer, Anne O’Connor.
She recognized 4 hospitals at present experiencing larger numbers of workers impacted by an outbreak of Covid-19; St Luke’s Hospital in Kilkenny, 59 workers; Waterford College Hospital, eight workers; Tallaght College Hospital, 52 workers and an additional 17 healthcare workers at Naas Hospital in Kildare.
On non-public hospital capability, Reid highlighted plenty of “strands” in place with the non-public hospital sector.
He stated the HSE already had ongoing engagement with the non-public hospital sector, by the Nationwide Therapy Buy Fund (NTPF), the place they may present reduction for public hospital companies.
As well as, the HSE had finalised a procurement tender contract that was open for public hospitals, or hospital teams, to attract down regionally for diagnostics and for companies, and this association was up and working.
About 44 intensive care beds within the non-public sector had been out there to the general public hospital companies and, lastly, by way of the “huge surge” the nation could also be going through, discussions had been nonetheless occurring between Division of Well being, HSE officers, and personal hospital teams “with good normal settlement on what that will appear to be”.
Reid would count on, if the surge developed, that everyone can be supportive.
In the meantime, the Nationwide Well being Service (NHS) within the UK introduced right now (Thursday) that NHS vaccinations in England for Covid-19 totalled over half one million within the first 13 days, between the rollout of the programme on December 8 to December 20.
Of the 521,594 first dose vaccinations supplied over this time, over 70 per cent, (366,715), had been given to individuals aged 80 or over.
Valerie Ryan
