Stronger leadership needed to achieve our vaccine goals
AT THE start of last week, Ireland was mid-table in the International Vaccination World Championships. Our small island nation was outperforming some of Europe’s vaccine powerhouses. Not since Italia ’90 had Ireland received such acclaim for being a plucky underdog taking on the big guns on the world stage. And this was after having the lowest case numbers in Europe before Christmas. Stephen Donnelly must have thought he was the next Jack Charlton. He was probably planning the route for his open-top bus tour of Dublin once he won the Vaccination World Cup.
But, unfortunately, as the week progressed, the shine started to come off Ireland’s worldbeating vaccination performance. First it emerged private hospital staff were getting the vaccine ahead of public healthcare workers. This included two exclusive Dublin hospitals and a private diagnostic clinic which charges through the roof for X-rays.
Around the same time, nurses in Nenagh Hospital posted a video online in which they pleaded with the Government because they were scared out of their minds to go into work such was the prevalence of Covid.
But our vaccination game took an even bigger hit when it emerged hospitals were dishing out spare vaccines to family members of staff. The master of the Coombe Hospital even gave precious vaccines to two of his own children. Only after this, the HSE issued guidance on what should be done with spare vaccines and here’s a hint – it was not to give them to your kids.
As of yesterday, Donnelly’s management of the vaccination programme was looking more like that of Giovanni Trapattoni – grinding out a few results with an ugly on-the-field performance.
But the reality is no one is in charge of the vaccination programme. Prof Brian MacCraith, who is the Government’s go to chair du jour, drafted a plan and a very broad schedule for the order of administration.
The HSE, led by chief executive Paul Reid, is making sure the vaccines arrive but the work of who gets the jabs has been delegated to the hospital groups. There seemed to be no joined up thinking.
The minister says it is up to the HSE to deal with the vaccination programme but as previous incumbents of his office will inform him, there’s only so long you can get away with blaming them.
The calls for a vaccine minister are grand and all but the time and effort involved in coming up with something like that would be better served getting to grips with the actual vaccination programme. The appointment of a Vaccine Tsar from within the health or civil service may be more worthwhile. Especially since the first phase of the programme is the easy part.
The public pressure on the minister when it comes time to vaccinate people who are not in care will be intense. There will be a nationwide scramble to get the jab. Neighbouring towns will want to know why they don’t have the same amount of people vaccinated.
Rival counties will demand more jabs then each other. The open-top bus tour for Donnelly is a long way off and there is a lot of time left in the vaccination game before any celebrations can take place.