Kilcormac vaccine hub details yet to be fully agreed

The specific arrangements for the use of the Faithful Fields GAA Centre as Offaly's Covid vaccine hub have not yet been worked out, with the county board looking to ensure the plan doesn't prevent players returning to training there when restrictions ease.

The Department of Health announced last Monday that the Kilcormac venue would be Offaly's vaccination centre - one of 37 planned nationally - but the press release noted that the contract for its use had not been finalised.

County board chairman Michael Duignan said Offaly GAA officials were now due to meet with the HSE next Monday to agree details on how the vaccine centre would operate.

"Obviously, if we are back training again, we have to factor in how that might work. practically," he told the Offaly Independent.

"The HSE had been in touch with us, and we were aware that (the centre) was a favoured option for them, but we hadn't actually worked out the detail of it in advance of the announcement.

"They had been out, had looked at the facilities, and we knew it was suitable, but all of this happened reasonably quickly and we haven't really had a chance to firm it up.

"We now have to see what sort of usage it will get, what the opening hours will be, and - if we're back training - how it will practically work. But, from our point of view, we realise how important this is, and in general terms, we are happy to make the facility available."

He said a timeframe for when the HSE would be coming on-site to begin operating the centre had also not been determined as yet.

"You'd imagine it will take a number of weeks to kit out the facility in terms of what's required. It's laid out as a training centre at the minute, and I'm sure adjustments to the facilities will be needed to allow for the vaccinations to happen. That will be part of our conversations with the HSE on Monday."

This week's announcement about the 37 vaccine centres planned nationally gave no indication of when they might be up and running.

The Department of Health stated that, while vaccines are currently being administered in healthcare settings and by GPs, many people will be offered their vaccine in one of the new centres, having self-registered online.

It added that all of the vaccination centres would vary in size and operating hours, and that they had been selected based on population density, ease of access, transport and parking.

The HSE's Regional Health Forum, which gives presentations to local councillors, held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the vaccination plans, but two Offaly councillors said they were disappointed that no national HSE official working on the vaccine rollout was available to address the meeting.

"That was quite disappointing," said Cllr Sean O'Brien. "I've looked for more details on the plans, and I'm awaiting those. I'd have to say I'm a bit annoyed because we all expected that there would be a clear rollout plan.

"We've been speaking about this for some time, and we hoped that there would be some definite detail. People - particularly the elderly who are expecting to be vaccinated early - would like to have something definite to go on.

"I think it's a bit concerning that we're hearing parts of the plan, but not the full picture," commented Cllr O'Brien.

He said he was hoping for more clarity on the timeframes for vaccination, and whether people would be notified of whether they would have to go to the vaccination centre in Kilcormac or whether they would be vaccinated by their GP.

"People need to have a bit of certainty, and frankly, it needs to be speeded up. There's been a lot of talk about the organisation of it, but I think people just want to see them get on with it."

Cllr Eddie Fitzpatrick also said he was expecting that this week's Regional Health Forum meeting would be addressed by a national official working on the vaccine rollout, but that wasn't the case.

"We were hoping that one of the (national HSE officials) would be there, but for one reason or another they didn't attend."

He said it was his understanding that most older people would be vaccinated by their own GP, who would be contacting patients in the older age brackets to bring them in for vaccinations.

"Those people won't have to go to the likes of the Faithful Fields centre," he said. "But overall, (the vaccine rollout) seems to be very slow-moving. We need to move on with it."

Another Offaly member of the Regional Health Forum, Cllr Tony McCormack, said the members were told that the HSE was actively recruiting people to work in the vaccine centres, and was training people they'd already recruited.

However, he said the vaccination timeframes would depend on the amount of vaccine doses coming into the country.

He felt the choice of the Faithful Fields centre as a vaccination location made sense.

"We needed a place like that, which people know and recognise. The roads are very good, getting to it, and there's good parking within the facility itself," said Cllr McCormack.