Absence of Patients Database Reason For the Deprioritization of Carers, SNAs, Gardaí and Teachers
Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has been raising the absence of a Centralised Patient Database for weeks now as a major weakness is the roll of out the Vaccine.
An Teachta Tóibín:
The Government changed from a Risk Based Vaccine Distribution system to an Age Based system because they did not build a centralized database over the last 6 months. Such a database should have existed for years, Covid or no Covid but its need was radically increased with the onset of the pandemic. In the absence of this centralised database has meant to dependence on GP lists and Consultant lists. Some of these were over lapping and others had gaps. This mean that some people, in real need for example patients with Stage 4 Cancer were being bounced between Consultants and GPs in their search for a vaccine.
Rather than building the Database the Government just dropped it and has now deprioritized Carers, SNAs, Gardaí and Teacher. There is a massive cost to this for the people who work on the front line. Now a 46 year old person working remotely at home, not in contact with anyone from one day to the next will receive a vaccine at the same time as a 46 year old SNA working with children with Special Needs, or a Garda making arrests at a riot or a Carer on whom another person completely depends. The government’s latest revisions have nothing to do with science, but everything to do with Government inability.
This will cost in terms of illness, hospital and ICU admission and possibly death. This costly failure is just another in a lengthening list government failures including Nursing Homes, protection of airports, lack of hospital capacity and all Ireland cooperation. All of these failures has mean the government has had to lean on blanket Lockdown far longer than another EU country with all the drastic costs that this entails.
I listened to the Minister for Housing on Radio this morning excuse this decision. He stated in terms of Covid, that its not what you do that is the threat, but your age. This after a whole year where the government discounted age and constructed restrictions on the basis of actions and movement.
There is also a significant problem with the political discourse on Covid, much which has been dominated by Political Group Think, which has done so much damage to Ireland in the past. Aontú has been raising the issue of the lack of a Central Database for weeks. Yet media and political establishment ignored our warnings. Now Teachers, SNAs, Carers and Gardaí are getting stuffed. Voices outside the official Oppositions have not been listened to. The Soc Dems, Labour & SPbP have all called for Zero Covid or Level 5 to remain till there are 10 cases or less a day. This would mean Level 5 would remain for months more. SF have simply sat on the fence providing little or no critique to Government actions. Voices such as our own which have given a much needed alternative analysis and critique have been ignored or pushed to the edges.
