A teenage transplant patient who attended her appointment for a Covid-19 vaccine at Beaumont Hospital today was refused the jab after being told AstraZeneca was not licensed for under 18s.
The hospital has said tonight that a new appointment has been scheduled for the teenager for Tuesday.
The mother of the young kidney transplantee explained to RTÉ News how her daughter, who has been cocooning for a year, was overjoyed to receive a text message on Thursday informing her of her appointment today.
She travelled from the west of Ireland this morning but upon arrival at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin was told she could not be given the vaccine.
The woman, who does not want her name published, told RTÉ News that she and her daughter were "heartbroken" after being told by medical staff that she could not be vaccinated because AstraZeneca was not licensed for under 18s.
The mother said: "We were overjoyed to receive the text message on Thursday about her appointment. While it did mention AstraZeneca I assumed everything would be ok because she must have been referred by her medical team. I had not heard anything to the contrary.
"It was like Christmas morning travelling up in the car today and to get here and be turned away was simply heartbreaking. My daughter had been counting the days until she could get back to school. She is devastated."
In a statement, Beaumont Hospital said it did not administer the AstraZeneca vaccine as the patient was under 18. It said this is in line with national recommendations.
The hospital said it has since contacted the patient and a new appointment has been scheduled for this Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Irish Kidney Association said the error relates to teenagers in adult services who were called for AstraZeneca when only Pfizer-BioNtech is licensed for use in 16 and 17 year olds.
The association said it was aware of another teenager who had also been called for vaccination in error. The IKA said it appreciated "that HSE staff are working very hard on vaccinations" but has called on scheduling teams to "check their lists for age before inviting people for appointments".
It added that the HSE needs "clear messaging internally and to the public that 16 and 17 year olds can only take Pfizer-BioNTech".
The IKA also called for all teenagers in group 4 to be prioritised for vaccination as schools reopen.
