Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On those who are housebound and still have not received the vaccine, there are many in my constituency affected by this. I have a case of one woman who is 99 years of age, turning 100 in August, who had difficulty receiving her vaccine. She was notified there was a vaccine for her at beginning of March. However, she was not able to go to her GP and nothing happened. In the end, her family, with great difficulty, managed to get her to the GP to give her the vaccine but it caused a lot of distress. Will the Minister clarify the processes around the National Ambulance Service in this regard? What are the conditions attached to it? Does the service need a certain number of people within a locality before it can allocate the vaccine? There are different stories floating around about that.

On those identified as very high risk, as opposed to those categorised as high risk, have GPs been given clear instructions on how to categorise people? I have had several people with MS ask me what category they are in and how they will be notified, for example, as to when their vaccine will be ready.

I apologise if I missed an announcement on the two jabs as I was delayed at another meeting. However, there is much anxiety among those who have received the first jab, especially among the over-70s and the very high risk groups, if the time between the two jabs is extended. Could that be left as it is for those who already received their first jab? If it is going to be extended, can it be done for those who are receiving the jab at a later stage after the announcement?

I am concerned family carers have still not been offered the vaccine or have not been prioritised as front-line healthcare workers, which they are. A testing centre was moved to Castle Saunderson in County Cavan. It is a remote and beautiful forested area which people use for exercise. Many are annoyed the testing centre has been moved there, bringing much traffic to the area. It is not serviced by public transport and is difficult to locate. Why was this done with no consultation with locals?

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