Connacht Tribune
Booster clinic extends opening to tackle queue
By Dara Bradley
Opening hours for this weekend’s walk-in Covid-19 booster vaccination clinic at Ballybrit Racecourse have been extended to sate a surge in demand for a third dose.
Over 1,000 people aged 60-69 flocked to the Racecourse walk-in clinic last Sunday, where many reported queues of up to two hours to get their booster jab.
Many more reported left without getting a jab after lengthy waits in the queue. There were also reports of long traffic delays in the area.
Saolta confirmed to the Connacht Tribune that walk-in booster clinic was “much busier than anticipated”, which “resulted in a build-up in the queue and regrettably delays for some people waiting”.
“A number of improvements have been made ahead of the walk-in clinic this weekend including extending the clinic to a full day, which should help reduce the waiting time,” a spokesperson said.
The next walk-in clinic is this Saturday, from 9am-5pm – more than double last week’s hours.
It is for people who have reached an interval of at least 150 days since their second dose vaccine or have reached the interval of three months since receiving the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
As well as the walk-in clinic, the centre will continue to invite people aged 60-69 by text to scheduled appointments, Saolta said.
“The walk-in booster clinics are a further opportunity for people who are unable to make their scheduled appointments, to get their booster dose.
“It is difficult to anticipate how many people will arrive at the same time and we ask people to bear with us if there is a queue. Staff will be working really hard to make sure that people waiting get their booster dose as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said.
She said planning was underway to extend the booster vaccination clinics for people with some underlying conditions and those aged in their fifties.
Meanwhile, the reaction to the decision to change advice on mask wearing among children has been mixed.
The HSE advice had been that masks were not recommended for children under the age of 13. But from this week, children aged nine and over, and pupils in third-sixth class, are required to wear face coverings in school.
Guidance sent to principals said that children without masks could be refused entry.
Students who cannot wear masks will require “medical certs” for exemptions, which has been described as a waste of GPs’ time. Ballygar Dr Martin Daly said this would “shift the onus onto overstretched GPs”.
Primary teacher union INTO reiterated its call for contact tracing to be reinstated in schools to give a clearer picture of transmission. WHO advice is that the decision to use masks for children aged six to eleven should balance factors such as the level of transmission of the virus, and the potential impact of wearing a mask on learning and psychosocial development.
An average of 200 people every day in the past fortnight have tested positive for the virus – that’s 2,789 confirmed cases in two weeks to Tuesday. It gives a 14-day incidence rate of 1080.8 per 100,000, a slight reduction on last week.
Ballinasloe electoral area had the highest 14-day incidence rate in County Galway with 1,458 cases per 100,000 people. It was 1,032 in Athenry/Oranmore; 791 in Conamara North; 670 in Conamara South; 1,318 in Gort/Kinvara; 1,240 in Loughrea; and 750 in Tuam.
The incidence in Galway City Central was 1,498 per 100,000; it was 1,067 in City East and 1,154 in City West. On Monday, 30 patients with Covid-19 were in local hospitals, including 22 in University Hospital Galway – seven admitted in the previous 24 hours – and eight in Portiuncula. There were five Covid patients in the two hospital’s Intensive Care Units, and both UHG and Ballinasloe had no ICU beds available.
Two more Covid deaths in Galway have been recorded in early November, bringing the total to 147. The Central Statistics Office said there were 415 Covid-19 deaths in the West, which includes Mayo (201) and Roscommon (67). That’s up seven in a fortnight.
A pop-up test centre operated in Tuam Stadium again on Monday and Tuesday for a third week. Some 1,380 people were tested over four days of the first two weeks. Testing continues at Distillery Road at NUIG and at Galway Airport by appointment only due to high demand.
Despite shortages of tests in other counties, on Tuesday afternoon Galway Airport had over 600 appointment slots available, NUIG had over 30, and Tuam Stadium had 172.
Breda Crehan-Roche, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare West said: “It is still important to combine basic public health measures – wear a mask, wash your hands and if you are indoors ventilate the space well. Let us all work together and continue to break the chain of transmission of the disease.”
Government came under fire for scrapping plans for a subsidy scheme for cheaper antigen tests. Social Democrats co-leader Róisín Shortall said the U-turn by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was “a serious dereliction of duty”. New Government rules require anyone arriving into Irish airports from this Friday to have antigen or PCR tests.
Meanwhile, overcrowding has eased at UHG compared with last month but it remains an issue at Portiuncula. On Monday there were 15 patients on trolleys in Ballinasloe, according to INMO Trolley Watch – that’s five more than in UHG, which is far bigger in size. On Tuesday, patients on trolleys had dropped to six in Portiuncula and risen to 15 in UHG.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
