[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed to The College View that 3500 people availed of Covid-19 vaccines as part of a week-long campaign to boost youth vaccination rates.
‘Vaccination Week’ was a campaign started by the Department of Further and Higher Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health, and 15 college campuses on the week of September 27th.
This week-long initiative coincided with the opening week of lectures for many first-year students across different universities around Ireland.
A spokesperson for the HSE told The College View the campaign involved 30 third-level institutions.
“The aim of this Vaccination Week was to enhance and promote vaccination uptake among young people as they started nor went back to college this month and also to ensure any students, who have not been vaccinated yet, including international students, had the option to be protected against COVID-19.”
At the time of writing, The College View have received vaccination figures from DCU, NUI Galway, and Trinity College Dublin.
A spokesperson for DCU told The College View that 300 vaccine doses were administered over three days, the majority of which were first doses.
“That facility in the Healthy Living Centre in the Nursing Building on the Glasnevin campus is now operating as a HSE COVID-19 PCR test facility. This PCR testing facility is also available to members of the public”, the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for NUI Galway described the vaccination clinic as a “great success”, and confirmed that more than 250 students were vaccinated over six days.
“As we have seen a steady flow of students taking up the offer of a vaccination, we are planning to open the clinic again next week, Tuesday October 12th until Thursday October 14th, from 9.30am until 5pm”, the spokesperson added.
A spokesperson for Trinity College Dublin also told The College View that more than 200 students were given the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine over two days.
The spokesperson also confirmed that the vaccination clinic will operate again to administer second doses next month.
A spokesperson for the University of Limerick could not confirm any figures on administered doses, however he also confirmed to The College View that a vaccination clinic for second doses will open later this month.
Professor Kerstin Mey, President of UL encouraged all members of the UL community to be vaccinated “to keep themselves safe and as the best mitigation factor against the spread of this global pandemic”.
While a spokesperson for TU Dublin was unable to provide exact figures, she did add that the vaccine roll-out in Ireland should be celebrated for its success, while also encouraging others to get vaccinated.
“We understand that there may be some students that are hesitant about receiving the vaccine”, she added.
“We would encourage students that are ensure to read the information available on the HSE website and to talk to their GP or Student Health Centre to allay their concerns.”
Matthew Joyce
Image Credit: Aoibhin Meghen