Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for providing me with the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, to update the House on the roll-out of the Covid-19 immunisation programme and vaccination centres. The vaccine programme is a key enabler of the reopening of society and the economy. It continues to progress, with more than 1.8 million doses administered overall. The programme has passed the milestone of the administration of 500,000 second doses and, this week, we expect to pass the milestones of having administered 1.5 million first doses and 2 million total doses. The plan is to distribute in the region of 250,000 to 270,000 vaccines to the system this week. Vaccines will go to GPs, hospital groups and vaccination centres.

A total of 38 HSE vaccination centres will operate on an eight-hour basis, seven days a week. This will increase to 12 hours a day when supply allows. These centres support the vaccination of the general population in a safe and efficient manner. Each centre varies in size and operating hours and has been selected based on population density, ease of access, transport and parking. There is at least one vaccination centre for each county. As of 5 May, there were 35 HSE vaccination centres open and operating. The 36th centre, in Carrick-on-Shannon, is planned to open on 12 May. There has been very positive feedback from members of the public who have accessed vaccination appointments in their local HSE vaccination centres in the past week.

The Arklow Bay Hotel Covid-19 vaccination centre was scheduled to open for the administration of vaccinations today. However, following last week's announcement on the reopening of services, the hotel has indicated it will return to operating as a hotel business. The result is that the facility will only be available to the HSE until the end of May. From a logistical perspective, it does not make sense to operate a Covid-19 vaccination centre at the facility for the short time involved. The HSE is actively exploring available alternative sites for a vaccination centre in the south Wicklow-north Wexford area. A number of sites are being examined by HSE Estates and Community Healthcare East, in partnership with South East Community Healthcare.

Pending agreement on a south Wicklow-north Wexford site, the HSE is maximising the capacity at the Aviva and Greystones vaccination centres. As staff numbers increase in the Aviva facility, the number of available appointments will rise by an additional 400 to a total of 3,000 daily when all 29 booths are open. The vaccination capacity at the Shoreline Greystones centre will be increased by moving from a 12-booth to a 15-booth model. The change to the physical infrastructure at the Greystones site is already complete. As more staff come on stream, the hours of operation will be extended to 12 hours per day. This will allow a total of 1,400 appointments to be offered daily. People in the Arklow area who are registered on the public portal will be offered appointments at the Shoreline centre in Greystones. Those in the north Wicklow area will be offered appointments in the Aviva centre. This has been the approach in recent week while awaiting the full opening of the Arklow Bay Hotel centre.

I acknowledge the efforts and flexibility of the HSE staff in ensuring the success to date of the roll-out of the vaccination programme. I thank them for their continued commitment to the programme.

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