Calls for Covid-19 vaccination centre for Inishowen

Calls have been made for a vaccination centre to be located in Inishowen with some people in the peninsula facing journeys of more than an hour to the proposed centre in Letterkenny.

It was confirmed on Monday that Letterkenny Institute of Technology is to be one of 37 centres in the country.

There have been calls for the establishment of at least two other centres in the county.

The HSE has said other “satellite sites” in the county are under review.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Tuesday that if additional facilities are required they can be provided.

The HSE has confirmed that some GP practices in Donegal will vaccinate people over 85 this week.

Cllr Albert Doherty, who sits on the HSE Regional Health Forum West, said the experiences of people in Inishowen travelling to Letterkenny for testing when infection rates were at their peak showed that a vaccination centre is needed in the peninsula.

The issue of public transport means a local vaccination centre in Inishowen is crucial, He said.

“I knew a number of families where the trip to Letterkenny [for testing] took a lot out of them, even preparing for it,” he said.

“The peninsula is both big enough in numbers and in size to be a location for a vaccination centre.

“If there is to be a satellite site then it must be located in the peninsula,” he said.

The Sinn Féin councillor said Covid-19 has been a “significant challenge” for the people of Inishowen.

“Now there must be a significant support response,” he said, calling for GPs, pharmacists, dentists and their staff to be involved in the vaccination programme.

“The issue is again transport. We can’t be in Letterkenny at 9 and home at 11. Transport of a public nature is not feasible for families and for people to present themselves.

“Be it from Inishowen Head, Malin Head, Glengad or Urris; it is a significant journey and a more central local area with the support of those vaccinators would allow for a greater delivery of the vaccine."

A vaccination centre in the peninsula would “dampen and reduce the anxiety and the opportunities for Covid-19 spread," he said.

“Community facilities have a vital role to play as many of the GP surgeries are limited,” he added.