Health staff top of queue as Cork GAA HQ offers 3,000 jabs a day

Cork GAA headquarters, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, will be able to vaccinate up to 3,000 people daily as one of Ireland's biggest Covid-19 vaccination hubs to be operated by the Health Service Executive (HSE) nationwide.

The GAA stadium – unveiled as a vaccination centre yesterday – will primarily be used to allow the national vaccination programme to be expanded to age groups beyond the elderly and those with health vulnerabilities from May and June onwards.

However, it is not expected to reach full capacity until June when vaccine supplies surge and the jabs are offered to major population groups, including the middle aged and younger people.

"Today [Thursday] and tomorrow we plan to vaccinate healthcare workers at the Páirc Uí Chaoimh centre," a HSE spokesperson said.

"We are close to completing this group in Cork and expect to have almost all frontline healthcare workers in Cork (public and private) vaccinated by the end of the month.

"The centre will then be used to vaccinate people in Allocation Group 4, which is people at a very high risk of severe Covid-19 disease.

"Some people from this group are being vaccinated within the hospital system this week and as we move through this group some of them will receive appointments for the Páirc Uí Chaoimh centre in the coming weeks. They will be contacted directly by their team."

Health chiefs acknowledged that the 11 giant hubs included in the 37 major vaccination centres nationwide will not be used for the general public in the immediate short-term.

"Depending on vaccine supply and the numbers required to be vaccinated, the centre will have the capability to operate seven days a week, 12 hours a day," they said.

"It will be some time before it is needed to operate at this level and again this will be dependent on factors including vaccine supply."

The facility boasts a total of 30 vaccination booths and can handle up to 3,000 jabs daily.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh will be slightly smaller than Ireland's four largest vaccination hubs at Cork City Hall (35 booths), CityWest Dublin (60 booths), DCU Helix (48 booths) and Galway Racecourse (43 booths).

A major advantage offered by Páirc Uí Chaoimh is its location, ample parking and ability to allow for good social-distancing. 

The Government plans to have 37 major vaccination centres, with at least one in every county.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh will operate as one of five major vaccination hubs at six locations in Ireland's largest county including Cork City Hall, MTU Campus and Mallow GAA complex with Bantry Primary Care Centre and Clonakilty GAA Club operating as a single alternating hub.

Health chiefs acknowledged that vaccination rates are expected to rise by the end of quarter two when Ireland and the EU are planning for vaccine deliveries to soar.

Ireland, as part of its EU vaccine supply contracts, is expecting major deliveries of PfizerBioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca jabs with the single-jab Johnson & Johnson vaccine expected to be rolled out shortly.

Until now, the EU has clashed with AstraZeneca over its ongoing failure to deliver agreed vaccine supplies – with Brussels warning that it may have to consider controls on vaccine exports.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has warned against such measures and stressed that it was vital global supply chains be kept open.

He pointed out that the PfizerBioNTech vaccine alone includes 280 ingredients from suppliers with operations across 19 countries.

Mr Martin said he spoke to both US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about vaccine supplies and they are focusing on addressing their domestic demands before deciding on shipping surplus stocks abroad.

The slower-than-anticipated vaccine roll-out has prompted Russia to say it is willing to listen to requests from Ireland and the EU for supplies of its Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, which has also proven effective.

The Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Yuriy Filatov, confirmed that Irish citizens have directly contacted Russian authorities about supplies though no request has been received from Ireland.

Online Editors