Ballinteer Medical will be vaccinating ALL our patients aged 70 years and older. The Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine is expected to be approved by the European Medicines Authority on the 29th of January. At this point in time there are no details as to delivery schedules but we will update as we hear more. The HSE have put a lot of work into deciding who will be vaccinated at any time. We have to follow their directions and you can see their guidelines at the links at the bottom of the page.

This will begin with the over 85 year old group then the 80-84 year old’s, then the 75-79 year old’s, then the 70-74 year old’s, as vaccines are delivered.

We are not taking a list of names, if you are a patient of the practice you are already on our list. ALL patients will be vaccinated based on age as the only criteria. Please do not ring our secretary to explain why you or your relative should “jump the queue” but you can confirm your contact details . We are bound to obey the guidelines set by the statutory authorities.

More information will be posted on our website over the coming weeks. The phone lines are very busy at the moment so we would really appreciate it if you could follow the advice on the website for updates.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:

I / my carer/ my spouse is in a different age group, can they get vaccinated with me?

– No, the HSE are going to give us a very strict number of vaccines based on our patient numbers for each age group. We have been advised that we unfortunately cannot deviate from this in any way. Don’t worry, everyone will get vaccinated but the HSE have instructed us to use age as the only criteria at present.

I have an underlying health problem, can I get the vaccine earlier?

– Unfortunately we are not able to prioritise one patient over another as all patients in your age group are considered at a higher risk, and nearly all have underlying health issues. We will do our best to get you vaccinated as soon as possible.

What vaccine will I be getting, and can I choose which brand of vaccine I get?

– We understand that we will be getting the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine. There is no option to choose an alternative brand/vaccine. This is also the case in other countries such as the UK.

How many doses of the vaccine will I need?

– There will be two doses of the vaccine administered 28 days apart.

What are the risks of the vaccine

– All information about the vaccine will be on the HSE website prior to the vaccination and further will be available here prior to the vaccinations

What about patients under 70?

– While the over 70s age group has been prioritised with the first rollout of vaccines, the HSE are currently organising a national electronic/online portal to recruit anyone under 70. This is still being designed. We understand that people under 70 may be vaccinated in several different areas…GP surgery, Pharmacies or in mass vaccination clinics.

Vaccine Allocation Groups

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/39038-provisional-vaccine-allocation-groups/

Vaccine Information resource ( this is not up to date yet on the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine)

https://www2.hse.ie/covid-19-vaccine/

Source of up to date info on the roll out of the vaccine program

https://www2.hse.ie/screening-and-vaccinations/covid-19-vaccine/rollout-covid-19-vaccines-ireland.html