Vivienne Clarke
A Co Kildare GP who planned on volunteering to be a Covid-19 vaccinator has withdrawn from the process and described it as “ludicrous”.
Dr Andrew McGoldrick told RTÉ Radio 1 that he finally withdrew from the process of volunteering to be a vaccinator after experiencing “all the hoops” through which he had been expected to jump.
Being asked to attend a half day’s training in Dublin on how to vaccinate was “a step too far” he said, especially as he had already completed a course online with the HSE prior to the current vaccination programme.
Dr McGoldrick, who is due to retire shortly, also told of the distress he and his patients experienced on the Easter bank holiday Monday when vaccines which were due to arrive at lunchtime did not arrive until after 4pm and he and his staff had to scramble to contact patients who had been sent home earlier.
Distressing
It had been particularly distressing to witness the upset of a bed-ridden 93-year-old man who had been carried into the surgery by a family member to get his vaccine, only to be sent home and then called back again later.
“It’s not good enough in this society,” Dr McGoldrick said.
“Our hands were tied, but every one of the patients came back.”
Dr McGoldrick added that his surgery had AstraZeneca doses, but they will not give them to patients until after the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) makes its decision today.
“We will be guided by them,” he said.
General practitioners in Ireland have been advised not to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to very high-risk patients until an update is available from Niac.
