Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Bhí roinnt daoine ó Chonamara i dteagmháil liom le déanaí ag rá nach bhfuil an vacsaín ar fáil óna ndochtúir teaghlaigh. Ag an am céanna, níl bealach ar bith isteach acu chuig an ionad vacsaíne i mBaile an Bhriotaigh i gcathair na Gaillimhe, mar níl bus nó traein a théann isteach ann agus muna bhfuil carr acu níl bealach ar bith acu an vacsaín seo a fháil. Dúirt an tAire níos luaithe go bhfuil sé chun athbhreithniú a dhéanamh ar na hathruithe ar an mbealach stórála don vacsaín AstraZeneca. An mbeidh impleachtaí aige sin ar dhaoine cosúil leo seo? An bhfuil an tAire chun réiteach a fháil ar an bhfadhb seo i gcomhair daoine i gceantair iargúlta ar nós Conamara agus Gaeltachtaí eile?

I wish to raise with the Minister the following issue. A number of people from Connemara have contacted me. They have reported that their GP is not providing them with the vaccine and they are having difficulties in getting to Ballybrit, where the vaccination centre is located for Galway city. There is no bus or train service available to take these people into Ballybrit.

I missed some of the Minister's earlier contribution because I was travelling here. I am aware that he mentioned that issue of storage methods will be looked into in light of the updated advice in respect of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Will the Minister be looking into some way of accommodating people living in more isolated rural areas like Connemara and other Gaeltacht areas?

I also wish to raise another issue with the Minister. It concerns cohort 7 of the vaccination programme. When will those in cohort 7, whose GPs have opted out of vaccinating patients, be vaccinated? Currently, it appears that some teenagers in cohort 7 may not be vaccinated until the end of the summer. The HSE had stated that the vaccination booking portal would be open for that cohort nearly two weeks ago. Since the cyberattack there has been little or no access to information for the people in cohort 7. Last week, only 1% of those in cohort 7 had been vaccinated, despite the fact that vaccinations were due to commence for that cohort from 1 May 2021. There are over 300,000 people in cohort 7 and only 2,785 of them had been vaccinated by last week. They are being told to wait until vaccination booking opens for their age group. How is that fair for 17-year-old girls who have been cocooning for the last year and a half? I ask the Minister to confirm when the portal will be open for those whose GPs have opted out of administering vaccinations.

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