Bantry walk-in clinic for over 40s booster vaccine to take place this Thursdsy

As the Covid-19 booster campaign sees a significant ramping up, a walk-in clinic for booster vaccinations for the over-40s will take place this Thursday, December 23rd from 9.30am to 3pm at West Cork's only vaccination centre, Bantry Primary Care Centre.

Close to 10,000 booster vaccinations were delivered at the three Cork locations –Bantry, Cork city and Mallow – over last weekend alone.

Meanwhile, walk-in clinics for over-40s to receive Covid-19 booster vaccinations will take place in Cork City Hall  tomorrow Wednesday December 22nd (5pm to 8pm) and Thursday December 23^rd   from8am to 6pm. In addition, a walk-in clinic for anyone eligible to receive a first or a second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine will take place on Wednesday December 22^nd from 8am to 4pm. For healthcare workers, walk-in clinics will  also be available tomorrow Wednesday December 22^nd, 8am to 4pm (all ages); Thursday December 23^rd (8am to 6pm).

The vaccinations roll-out across Cork and Kerry is run jointly by the South South West Hospital Group and Cork Kerry Community Healthcare.

In the last week, there has been a tremendous response by the public to the provision of walk-in booster vaccination clinics at City Hall Cork and at the Bantry vaccination centre.

Staff have redeployed to vaccination centres, and the centres have extended their hours. As well as offering walk-in vaccinations, all centres continue to schedule appointments for those eligible for a booster vaccination. Thanks to a combination of recent walk-in clinics, and the scheduling of a large number of appointments, the 50-plus age-group is now almost complete ie most eligible people in this age-group have received their booster vaccination or have been offered an appointment.

'We are making good progress on the 40-49 age-group, with appointments scheduled across this week at all three centres as well as several walk-in clinics,' said a spokesperson.

Gerry O’Dwyer, ceo  of the South South West Hospital Group thanked all those involved in the vaccination roll-out for their tremendous efforts in recent weeks.

'Staff have pulled out all the stops to make sure people in Cork and Kerry can receive their Covid-19 booster vaccination as quickly, efficiently and safely as possible. Staff have redeployed to vaccination centres and worked long hours to facilitate both appointments and walk-in clinics, and I want to sincerely thank them for their efforts.'

Michael Fitzgerald, chief officer of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare thanked the public for their response to the booster campaign.

'We know there has been a very welcome demand for the Covid-19 booster vaccination. We thank the public for attending their appointments as scheduled, and for making use of the walk-in clinics. There are further walk-in clinics planned for this week across Cork and Kerry, and we strongly encourage those eligible to attend and get their Covid-19 booster before Christmas.'

We would also like to thank and acknowledge the GPs and pharmacies across the region who are supporting the vaccination roll-out by offering booster vaccinations. GPs and pharmacies have also increased the number of appointments they offer in the last week.

Useful links and pages to keep an eye on:

Details of all walk-in clinics: www.hse.ie/findvc

Details of wait times at walk-in clinics: Twitter, @HSELive.

Local updates: Twitter, @CorkKerryCH

Details of pharmacies (searchable by county): https://www2.hse.ie/Apps/Services/PharmaciesServiceList.aspx

As well as walk-in clinics, all centres are:

- offering outreach clinics to vaccinate housebound people at home.

- offering appointments for booster vaccinations to eligible people aged 40 and over.

- offering appointments to any remaining healthcare workers yet to receive a booster.

- offering appointments to people in vaccination groups 4 and 7.

- travelling to residential centres to vaccinate any remaining residents who haven’t been in a position to receive a booster vaccination earlier in the campaign.

We ask people to take their appointment when it is offered if at all possible, and if not to let the HSE know if you do not wish to take up your appointment

The public have three options to cancel appointments are as follows:

• Text message stating NEW (if you want to reschedule) or REJECT (if vaccinated or do not want to take up the booster)
• Complete an online form athttps://www2.hse.ie/services/booster-enquiries/cancel.html
• Telephone HSELive on 1800 700 700

Details of walk-in clinics will be updated on hse.ie/findvc.

Queuing times at walk-in clinic will be shared on the HSE Twitter account, @HSELive