VACCINES: Registration team members Joe O'Donovan (front), Sonia Waldron and David Moynihan pictured at Killarney Vaccination Centre. Photo: Domnick Walsh

By Michelle Crean 

The success of the vaccine rollout reaching its targets will see the Killarney Vaccination Centre close temporarily for three days.

Tomorrow (Wednesday), as well as Thursday or Friday, the centre located at Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre, will be part of short planned closures in Cork and Kerry as they have reached their targets. There will also be no vaccinations at the Tralee vaccination centre at the Munster Technological University on Thursday. 

The HSE today thanked the dedicated and hardworking staff saying they “deserve huge credit for the numbers vaccinated at community vaccination centres” and the temporary closure will give staff “a much needed break”.

“We are pleased to confirm that the centres across Cork and Kerry have met and continue to meet their targets,” the HSE said in a statement.

“This included the aim of substantially completing the first vaccinations for people in their 50s (who have registered online) by the middle of this week. In the coming days, vaccination staff will begin the work of vaccinating people across Cork and Kerry in their 40s and indeed some people in their 40s have already received vaccinations in both counties. This is a fantastic achievement, and is thanks to staff who have provided a constant and relentless pace of vaccinations at all centres, consistently going above and beyond. Staff have been acutely aware of the importance of the vaccination programme and they deserve huge credit for the numbers vaccinated at community vaccination centres across both counties.”

The HSE added that the closures will also allow them to begin scheduling the second doses of Astrazeneca currently due. 

“Some of these vaccinations for healthcare workers will take place at centres, but others will take place in healthcare settings.”

Vaccinations centres in Cork and Kerry are run as a joint project between the South South West Hospital Group and Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, with support and input from all parts of the health service including IT and Estates.

“As we move forward to a new phase of the vaccination programme, we will continue to provide vaccinations to our communities in accordance with the vaccine available to us. Our centres are staffed, resourced and available and as vaccine is made available, we will offer it to the members of the public who have registered either online or by phone.”