With the roll out of the COVID 19 Vaccination Programme, thousands of HSE Staff across the country are being prioritised to receive the vaccine.  Among the first to receive the vaccine were staff in University Hospital Galway,  St James’s and Beaumont Hospitals in Dublin and  Cork University Hospital. 

Last Tuesday, December 29th, Lorna Quinn, Assistant Director of Nursing at University Hospital Galway  was the first staff member there to receive the first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.  Lorna received the vaccine from her UHG nursing colleague Michelle McNamara Nee. 

Speaking after she received the vaccine Lorna said she was “delighted to be the first within the Saolta Group to receive the vaccine. “I am also one of the assigned peer vaccinators who will deliver the vaccine to staff across the hospital and I am really looking forward to being part of this historic vaccination campaign.”  Encouraging staff members to ensure they are vaccinated as appropriate, Lorna stressed that “information will be provided to each person who receives the vaccine explaining the process to them, including the requirement to receive a second dose of this vaccine in three weeks”. 

Marie Burns, the Director of Nursing at Galway University Hospitals whose team is delivering the COVID-19 vaccine campaign across the hospital added that “last year  was very difficult year for everyone including health care staff. Last Tuesday was a really positive day and I want to thank Lorna and all our peer vaccination team here in UHG for their commitment to rolling out this essential vaccine.”

Chris Kane, Hospital Manager at Galway University Hospitals, which includes University Hospital Galway  added that “everyone in University Hospital Galway was delighted to see the commencement of this vaccination programme here on site.  Our plan is provide the vaccine in the first instance to those staff directly providing care to confirmed and suspect COVID-19 cases including the Shannon and Corrib inpatient wards, the Emergency Department and Acute Medical and Surgical Assessment Units and the ICU in the hospital. Over the course of next week and beyond, this will be extended to all staff in the hospital”.

By the end of last week over 500 staff at UHG had been vaccinated.