Colleagues defend vaccine decision by ‘kind, committed and hardworking’ master
PROFESSOR Michael O’Connell stood at the Coombe door and welcomed staff and local community healthcare workers inside. Regarded widely as a committed and an “exceptionally kind” physician, Prof O’Connell had waited in anticipation for months for the first boxes of the vaccine to arrive.
On the morning of Wednesday, January 6, they finally did, and Coombe staff got to work straight away.
Overseen by Prof O’Connell – master of the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital – vaccinators had been specially trained to handle and administer the fragile mRNA Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
A local GP who received his vaccine that night described a great sense of “optimism and collegiality”. Colleagues of Prof O’Connell told the Irish Independent he is known for his “professionalism and courtesy”.
Over the next three days, medical staff worked meticulously taking five, sometimes six or seven doses, from each vial, mixing it with sodium chloride. Each dose was checked twice. In an interview with RTÉ, Prof O’Connell explained that it has to be used within two hours once the vaccine is made up.
Up to 50 people were vaccinated an hour, with five or six vaccinators working in rotation.
By Friday night, all 1,100 staff had received the first dose of the vaccine, a major hospital achievement.
It must have felt like a momentous moment for Prof O’Connell too, who began his seven-year term as master of the hospital on New Year’s Day in2020.
Regarded as a natural teacher, Prof O’Connell is particularly interested in the training of junior doctors and has held many roles in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), including vice president and national specialty director.
He is currently clinical lead for International Fellows and chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Examinations Committee at the RCPI. He is internationally recognised for his work in India and the Middle East, and has published widely in maternal disease in pregnancy, labour and delivery, and preterm labour.
It has emerged since that 16 doses of the vaccine that were left over on Friday, January 8, were administered to relatives of hospital employees.
Prof O’Connell said he regretted the decision but explained had the vaccines “not been used, they would have been discarded”.
“I was keenly aware of that, and throughout the evening and from 9.30pm onward, I personally made every effort to prioritise and identify additional frontline workers and followed all measures available to me at the time,” he said.
Reaction from social media was swift and brutal.
However, colleagues of Prof O’Connell feel he has been unfairly treated.
“Would people prefer if 16 doses were dumped? That’s the alternative,” said one Coombe nurse.
“People were attacking him, including Stephen Donnelly, without any perspective.
“He’s most definitely not the kind of person to try and take advantage of a situation. He is very committed and hardworking.”
As public outrage grew throughout yesterday, Amy Smyth (41) mother of Teddy (8) and Myles (8 months) from Rathcoole, Co Dublin, grew increasingly upset.
Ms Smyth, a microbiologist, credits Prof O’Connell with saving her life.
“He has been my doctor for over 20 years, and he is absolutely amazing. Only for him, I wouldn’t have my two babies, and I mightn’t be here either.”
Ms Smyth, who has endometriosis, endured three major surgeries and developed serious complications in both deliveries.
Before she was diagnosed, Ms Smyth was repeatedly told her pain and suffering was all in her head until she met Prof O’Connell.
“He is exceptionally kind, and he would never dismiss you. He is a genuinely good person, as well as being a brilliant doctor. I’m a scientist and looking at this from a scientific perspective, throwing vaccines in the bin is outrageous.
“It’s very easy to throw comments around when you don’t know someone.
“But after knowing him for 20 years, I can’t for a second see him doing something out of the way ever to cause problems. He’s not that kind of a person. He had such an impact on my life,” Ms Smyth said.
“He has done so many positive things, his career shouldn’t be remembered for this one thing. He hasn’t damaged or injured someone.”
‘Would people prefer if 16 doses of vaccine had been dumped?’