Mum turned away from jab centre as ‘there was no minder for her child’
A HEALTHCARE worker has been left without a Covid-19 jab after she was turned away from a vaccination centre with her child.
Ann Doherty has since been unable to get another appointment, while other people have been offered multiple appointment dates.
It came despite that Dublin woman Kellie Tallant was offered a Covid-19 vaccine three days in a row.
Ms Doherty works as a social care worker in St John of God’s in Stillorgan, Dublin, and received an appointment to be inoculated in the mass vaccination centre in Citywest on Thursday, March 25.
However, the Kildare woman was told that she could not attend her appointment as she brought her four-month-old son with her.
She has suggested that she was one of at least five women turned away that day and not given a vaccine.
Ms Doherty said that nurses informed her that they were unable to give her the vaccine in case she went into anaphylactic shock, as there would be no one there to mind the baby.
However, Ms Doherty was not asked if she has ever experienced an anaphylactic shock following a vaccine. She told the Irish Daily Mail that she has not.
The latest data from the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) on March 25 noted that eight people have reported anaphylaxis since the vaccine rollout started in Ireland on December 29.
There is no information on the HSE’s website about bringing babies or children to the vaccination centres.
It is advised that vaccine recipients should not bring anyone else to their appointment ‘if possible’.
‘This is to reduce the number of people at the vaccination centre,’ the HSE website explains.
Ms Doherty told the Mail that she was unable to source childcare as her husband works and had to attend meetings that he was unable to schedule.
As she was turned away from the vaccination centre, she was told to return the next morning without the child and they would ‘fit her in’.
However, as her husband was unable to get time off work, she was unable to return to Citywest.
Ms Doherty was later told that as there are no more allocated vaccine appointments for St John of God’s, so it is unclear when she will get her jab.
Ms Doherty has now called on the HSE to issue updated guidance to mothers in her situation and to offer people a choice.
A HSE spokesperson last night failed to comment on why a mother would be turned away from a vaccine centre if they attend with their child or what advice they would give to people who cannot obtain childcare.
While Ms Doherty has been unable to get a new appointment, Dublin woman Ms Tallant was offered a Covid-19 vaccine three days in a row.
The 28-year-old has a rare lung disease and was moved to Cohort 4 of the vaccine prioritisation list last month.
After several weeks of waiting for a vaccine appointment, she was finally contacted by Dublin’s St Vincent’s Hospital on Monday.
Over a telephone call, she was offered a slot at the Aviva Stadium for 9.10am yesterday morning.
However, despite accepting the appointment, she was called again on Tuesday and Wednesday to arrange a vaccine.
‘I was waiting all week last week for a vaccine,’ Ms Tallant told the Mail.
‘Then, Monday they rang me, Tuesday they rang me, Wednesday they rang me. What the hell is going on? There are still people waiting for their first vaccine.
‘They rang me on Monday and
‘What the hell is going on?’
they gave me an appointment for 9.10am in the Aviva on Friday morning. I accepted that over the phone. I only got the text [on Thursday afternoon]; It took four days for the text to come.
‘They rang me back on Tuesday and said, “We’re just ringing if you want to get your vaccine.” I told them they rang me yesterday.
‘On Wednesday, they rang again asking if I wanted the vaccine.’
Ms Tallant explained that she was contacted by a dedicated vaccination team in St Vincent’s rather than somebody from her consultant’s office.
She also said that she spoke to different people every time she was called.
She added: ‘What I’m thinking, if they’re ringing me, then there are loads of free appointments.
‘Are there free appointments that other people could be taking?’
The HSE told the Mail last night that it ‘cannot comment on individual cases’.