WE HOLD TO ACCOUNT ABUSES IN JAB ROLLOUT
THE vaccine rollout has come under intense pressure in the last week after a series of exposés by Craig Hughes in the Irish Daily Mail and the Irish Mail on Sunday that have lifted the lid on vaccine queue-jumping, as well as revealing how people were exploiting the HSE’s online portal for staff vaccinations. FRIDAY, MARCH 26
LAST Friday, the Irish Daily Mail revealed how the private Beacon Hospital gave 20 excess doses of the Covid vaccine to staff at St Gerard’s private school in Bray, 13km away.
We also revealed how the children of Michael Cullen, CEO of the Beacon Hospital, are pupils at the school.
The private hospital came under fire after our revelation, with the board issuing an apology and vowing to launch an investigation.
TUESDAY, MARCH 30
THE Irish Daily Mail revealed that the chief executive of VHI received a Covid-19 jab through the Beacon Hospital at the start of March.
VHI boss John O’Dwyer, 63, was offered the jab by the Beacon Hospital along with one other senior manager with no clinical role at the health insurer.
It came after the board of the Beacon Hospital issued an apology for the misuse of vaccines.
SATURDAY, MARCH 27
THE next day, the Irish Daily Mail further revealed how Mr Cullen, the Beacon Hospital CEO, personally telephoned the school to offer the vaccinations to teachers and staff there.
The school’s headmaster Thomas Geraghty refused to answer questions as to whether or not it was appropriate that his staff were vaccinated ahead of so many other people.
THURSDAY, APRIL 1
A WHISTLEBLOWER revealed to this newspaper how easy it is for someone to dupe the HSE’s online portal system into believing a user is a healthcare worker in order to jump the vaccine queue.
The HSE has since closed the portal after it found that it was not robust enough in checking a user’s ID and could have been accessed by anyone with a link and did not require a password.
SUNDAY, MARCH 28
OUR sister publication the Irish Mail last Sunday revealed how staff at the headquarters of a créche chain, which is 6km from the Beacon hospital, were vaccinated ahead of vulnerable patients in the hospital.
In total, 36 staff at Park Academy Childcare, including the chain’s CEO, were vaccinated on two separate occasions, on February 25 and in early March, even though they had no direct childcare role.
FRIDAY, APRIL 2
THE Mail revealed how Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was told of the HSE’s flawed online portal ten days before it was taken down.
A link to the vaccine portal was shared online, with guides on how to dupe it into believing a person is a healthcare worker.
HSE Chief Paul Reid said on Thursday that some people had used the link to jump the queue but the number was marginal.