Tag Archives: Covid-19

AN initiative from the office of the Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council is looking to celebrate kindness and good deeds done by members of the public around the county during the pandemic to date. Cathaoirleach Mary Howard is inviting Clare people to nominate fellow citizens for recognition as ‘Clare Covid Heroes’ for the help and support they have provided to others during Covid-19. Councillor Howard said the idea is to provide recognition for people who have helped others, with no expectation of any reward. “This initiative is about celebrating the ‘everyday heroes’ all around us who have been quietly helping and supporting others during the past year under the various Covid-19 restrictions. “From providing practical assistance, such as ordering online shopping for older relatives and neighbours, to offering emotional support, perhaps through socially distanced visits or video and phone call check-ins, people in our communities have really been there for each other. Little gestures can mean a lot, and can …

GP says risks of getting a blood clot from a vaccine are very low, as date announced for opening of mass vaccination clinic in Ennis. THE GOVERNMENT must reiterate the benefits of vaccinating most of the population against Covid-19 to address “vaccine hesitancy” in the wake of the temporary suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to a local general practitioner. Dr Michael Harty has warned if most of the population isn’t vaccinated, Ireland is leaving itself open to the possibility of a fourth wave, which would delay the reopening of society that in turn would have very negative social and health implications. “The quicker people get vaccinated the better. It is the only way out of this pandemic because Covid-19 isn’t going anywhere and new variants are developing all over the world. “No vaccination is without rare events but from a population point of view if we want to get out of this pandemic we may have to accept this …

THE HSE has announced the opening of the Mid-West Covid-19 Vaccination Centre in Ennis from Monday, April 26, marking a significant scaling up of the Covid-19 vaccination programme across the region. The centre in the West County Hotel, will open on a phased basis, scaling up in line with availability of vaccines. Along with the centre at the Radisson Blu Limerick, and the Abbey Court Hotel in Nenagh, the facilities form a tripartite vaccination network to accelerate the delivery of Covid-19 vaccine in the Mid-West. With work ongoing at the Radisson Blu Limerick to vaccinate the Group 4 cohort of patients at very high risk of serious illness from Covid-19, the opening of the Ennis centre coincides with the move to Group 5 (people aged 65 to 69 at high risk) and Group 6 (other people aged 65 to 69) in the Government’s list of Provisional Vaccine Allocation Groups. UL Hospitals Group management gave the go-ahead for the phased opening …

THE HSE has today (Wednesday) confirmed details of the next group of people to be offered Covid-19 vaccines and introduced the Covid-19 online registration system. Over the coming weeks, about 180,000 people aged 65 to 69 will be asked to register for their Covid-19 vaccine on the HSE website. People in this group will be vaccinated at one of the HSE vaccination centres around the country using the AstraZeneca vaccine. Online registration will commence at 10am tomorrow, Thursday, April 15, beginning with people aged 69. The statement from the HSE outlines, “the vaccine being offered to people aged 65 to 69 is called Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca has been approved for use by both the EMA (European Medicines Agency) and NIAC (National Immunisation Advisory Committee), in keeping with the strictest standards of safety and quality. It is recommended for use in people aged over 60 and licensed by regulators.” “Our vaccination programme is now moving into an important new phase. …

THE UL Hospitals Group have tonight confirmed that following the updated National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) guidance issued on Monday evening, April 12, the Covid-19 vaccination clinic scheduled for the Radisson Blu Hotel on Wednesday, April 14, has now been cancelled. The group have apologised for any inconvenience and said the approximately 600 people affected are being contacted directly. In a statement received this evening, the group said, “Patients will be offered an alternative appointment as soon as possible. Approximately 1,200 people from Group 4 have had their appointments cancelled this Tuesday and Wednesday and, of these, we have identified just over 400 who are in the 60 to 69 age bracket. “This group of patients are now being offered a vaccination appointment this Thursday, April 15, at the Radisson Blu Hotel. This is in line with the updated guidance from NIAC. We encourage this group of patients to respond to the text notification and to attend for their appointment …

ENNIS’ Temporary Covid-19 Town Centre Mobility Plan, resulting in parts of the town closed to traffic, has been described as “very conservative” with calls being made for restrictions to be lessened. The Ennis Municipal District have confirmed that a review of the plan is scheduled to take place after the current lock-down measures are eased. Speaking at the monthly meeting of the local authority, Councillor Pat Daly urged that the council and the mobility stakeholder group keep the traffic situation under constant review with a view to re-opening selected streets if the county’s Covid numbers continue to improve. He said that many business owners are “tired and upset” over the ongoing street closures. “The pandemic has caused severe damage to their livelihoods” he said, expressing the hope that there may be “light at the end of the tunnel” in the near future. Councillor Clare Colleran Molloy voiced her support to the motion, saying the pandemic has been “very, very hard …

MORE than one in four people in Clare’s workforce are currently on the live register or receiving the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. There are more than three times as many people in Clare getting support due to lack of employment than was the case in February 2020, before Covid-19 had reached Ireland. By any pre-Pandemic standards, the figures are incredible, reflecting a level of unemployment that would be unthinkable at any other time. This week Clare TD Michael McNamara has warned that Ireland’s approach to the pandemic over the past year will lead to economic ruin, while he compared the lack of dissenting voices to the latter years of the Celtic Tiger, when there was little criticism of economic policies that brought disaster. “The key is to work safely but we didn’t make an attempt to work safely, we just stopped working altogether. I’m not aware of any country in Europe that has dealt with it the way we have, which …

QUIN based health advocate, John Wall has called the use of surplus Covid-19 vaccines for Clare and Limerick Gardaí as, “another shocking abuse of trust,” and said he is “fuming” over the  revelation on Thursday that approximately 100 members of the force on ‘standby lists’ received surplus vaccines at the Limerick vaccination centre in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Meelick.  Mr Wall went on to say this decision was, “yet another shocking abuse of trust we have placed in others to administer the vaccine rollout and a blatant disregard for the medically vulnerable many of whom remain unvaccinated. This is really hard to take.” He was critical of what the UL Hospitals Group said they considered to be an “appropriate” decision. “The same hospital that made me fight to get a vaccine, were at the very same time doing this. There are tens of thousands of medically vulnerable people begging to be vaccinated. The mismanagement of our rollout programme is …