Covid-19: New vaccination centre established at Beacon Hospital to support HSE
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Vaccinations have commenced for healthcare workers from across Dublin South, Kildare and West Wicklow at a newly set up mass vaccination centre, managed and facilitated by Beacon Hospital.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told the Dáil on Wednesday the Government plans to have 700,000 people vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of March.
Updated projections sent by Mr Donnelly to TDs confirm that the Government now expects to receive 3.7m doses between April and the end of June and a further 3.8m between July and the end of September.
The newly set up vaccination centre, once home to The Beacon Hotel and recently purchased by Beacon Hospital, can provide minimum 100 vaccines per hour and has the flexibility to rapidly expand by adding additional vaccination stations.
A peer vaccination team of up to 90 Beacon Hospital doctors and nurses will vaccinate staff Monday to Saturday ensuring that all personnel are protected in a planned and timely way.
The vaccination centre at Beacon Hospital is one of the first in the country which will provide additional capacity to the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group and its Community partner, Dublin South, Kildare and West Wicklow.
Ann O’Shea Chief Officer, Dublin South, Kildare and West Wicklow (CHO7) said, “We are delighted to extend the commencement of our vaccination programme by partnering with Beacon Hospital through our ongoing integration and partnership with the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.
Brian Fitzgerald, Deputy CEO Beacon Hospital said they are proud to support the HSE’s roll-out Covid-19 vaccines.
"The state-of-the-art vaccination centre was set-up by our facilities staff in just 72 hours, and I’d like to commend them for their efficacy and hard work in making this happen so quickly.
"I’m proud of the 90 staff members at Beacon Hospital who have volunteered to be vaccinators at the centre and support the national effort.
"I’d also like to thank senior personnel at the HSE for collaborating with us and supporting this important project.”
More than 900 doses of the vaccine are available to the facility, with further deliveries expected to support the scheduling plans for the ongoing programme across community and hospital services.
Ms Eileen Whelan, Chief Director of Nursing at Dublin Midlands Hospital Group said, “Vaccinations work, and vaccination is key to ensuring patient and staff safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. We prioritise patient and staff safety equally during the pandemic and we continue to advocate to ensure vaccine allocations for all of our healthcare workforce.”