‘No excuse’ for jab cheats
HSE boss Paul Reid has admitted that giving scarce supplies of the Covid-19 vaccine to ‘queue jumper’ clerical staff ahead of frontline workers dealing with patients is indefensible.
He made the admission days after the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed last week how special arrangements were made for dozens of HSE administration workers based in north Dublin city and county to get the jab while 80% of frontline workers caring for people in their homes were still waiting for the vaccine.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid said, at a press briefing last week, that particularly during the early days of the vaccine rollout in January, there had been incidences of ‘leap frogging’.
He said: ‘Certainly, in the early phases you’ll remember the very public ones in relation to the Coombe.
‘Dr Colm Henry issued a document back in early January – I think it was January 12 – which set out the very clear prioritisation process and how to deal with extra vials if they were available.
‘So, there’s been a number of cases we’ve been made aware of and as we are, we recommunicate back locally.
‘I should say there’s an understandable level where some of the services are trying to make sure they don’t waste vials and you know, as you look at reported cases you can then go back and say, “Okay, they were doing their best; they did call on a reserve list and they did vaccinate somebody in order to use the vial”. So, there are some legitimate reasons when it happens.’
But when pressed further as to whether he was ‘satisfied that there was a reasonable explanation in all of those cases,’ Mr Reid said not all incidences of ‘queue jumping’ could be justified.
The health authority boss added: ‘Not all of them, no. I mean, when I go back there’s been people who’ve been vaccinated out of sequence and that’s been obvious at the start.
‘The Coombe example was the one I’ve just referred back to. There was no rationale as we have seen it, but that’s reporting itself that’s been done.’
When the HSE was asked this weekend whether its chief executive was referring to last week’s MoS report about dozens of the authority’s own clerical staff receiving the vaccine ahead of some frontline workers, the HSE replied with an email referring us to the very remarks that we were specifically asking them about.