exclusive Nursing home where 24 residents died among first to get Covid vaccine

Plan sets out how vaccinators will have target of 35 patients per day

St Mary's Hospital in Phoenix Park

Catherine Fegan

December 25 2020 07:45 AM

RESIDENTS and staff in nursing homes will be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of February, according to a HSE draft schedule on the roll-out of the vaccine.

From January 11, vaccination teams will travel to each of the 583 HIQA older persons residential care facilities, both public and private, to administer two doses to over 70,000 residents and staff over a six-week period. This includes 29,456 residents and 41,856 staff.

The first facilities to receive the vaccines are located in Cork, Tipperary and Dublin, Mayo, Cavan and Offaly.

In Dublin, staff and residents St Mary’s Hospital in the Phoenix Park, where 24 people died from Covid-19 earlier this year, will be among the first in the country to be vaccinated on January 11.

On the same day, Our Lady’s Manor Dalkey, Kiltipper Woods Nursing Home, Glenaulin Nursing Home and TLC Centre Santry will be the Dublin facilities were vaccines will be administered.

In Cavan, Breffni Care Centre for Older Persons is listed, as is St. Augustine's Community Nursing Unit, Mayo.

In Cork, the nursing homes on the list for January 11 are Amberley Home Convalescent & Respite Care, Fairfield Nursing Home, St. Joseph's Hospital, Bon Secour, Cobh Community Hospital,

Cois Abhainn Residential Centre and Heather House Community Nursing Unit.

In Offaly, vaccinations will take place in St. Teresa's Nursing Home Cashel while in Offaly, staff and residents in Gallen Priory Nursing Home Ferbane will be receiving the vaccine.

According to details in a draft copy of the vaccine supply chain model, seen by the Irish Independent, based on teams working 5-days a week, it will take three weeks to administer the first dose, and a further three to deliver the second.

It is estimated that it will take each vaccinator 12 minutes to administer the vaccine with a target of injecting 35 vaccines per day.

The national model to provide Covid-19 vaccination to residents and staff is based upon the mobilisation of vaccination teams from each Community Health Organisation (CHO) with support from Residential Facility staff and other services, including the National Ambulance Service & Acute Hospital Services.

A Guidance document issued from the HSE to nursing homes this week noted that nursing homes will be required to accept delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine into their facility and maintain the cold chain until the arrival of the HSE Covid-19 vaccination team.

Nursing homes have been asked to register all residents on the IBM Salesforce Platform, the IT system enabling the planning and scheduling of vaccinations, while also helping to monitor and evaluate the success and effectiveness of the programme. The IT systems are still in development and the HSE have advised that IT support will be available to residential care settings.

The HSE vaccination teams, which will consist of a lead vaccinator, one or more vaccinators, a vaccination team observer and one admin staff, will be responsible for administering the vaccines to staff and residents.

Modelling carried out by the HSE states that smaller sites of 70 or less people being vaccinated will require one team of four individuals over one day, and in comparison, a site with 106 -140 people being vaccinated will require a team of six individuals over one day. The larger sites will require more days to complete vaccination; with sites of over 281 people being vaccinated requiring three days. Teams with over 4 vaccinators (1 team lead, 3 vaccinators) have not been modelled due to the space limitations for vaccination and observation space in most residential care facilities.

According to details outlined in a “typical vaccination day” start time will be 0840am with a 20-minute set up time. Vaccinations will then commence at 9am and continue for two hours. Following a fifteen-minute break they will continue for another hour and 45 minutes until lunchtime. After a 30-minute break for lunch, vaccinations will resume for a three-hour period until approximately 430pm when a 30-minute time period is allocated for “final activities.” The total vaccination time per day will be six hours 45 minutes.

Each Residential Care Facility will be allocated a day 1 (first vaccination) and day 21 (second vaccination). All residents and staff will be invited to consent in advance and then receive vaccination on these dates wherever possible.

On the issue of consent, the document stresses the importance of guiding residents through the vaccination process. It notes that “in order to give valid, informed consent, an individual must be provided with written information, the HSE Vaccine Information Leaflet, about the vaccination in advance of vaccination, otherwise consent will not be valid.”

Nursing homes are informed that in relation to wards of court, the “Registrar of the Wards of Court has confirmed that there is no requirement to seek a Court Order or Court Consent for the administration of the vaccine.” Those who indicate verbally or otherwise that they do not wish to be vaccinated should not be vaccinated. In the case of a dispute between the person and their committee that cannot be resolved locally, the matter should be referred to the Registrar of the Wards of Court.

Nursing homes provided with the documents relating to the vaccine rollout were cautioned that they are in draft format, are incomplete and are therefore subject to change.