A drive-in vaccination centre set up at a medical practice in Kilkenny this afternoon has had a steady stream of patients in the over-85 cohort rolling in and rolling up their sleeves to receive their first Covid-19 jabs.
The service was established at the Ayrfield Medical Centre in Kilkenny city and run by the practice's doctors, nurses and other staff for a number of hours.
Patients arrived by car, accompanied by another person. They were given the relevant advice, vaccinated and then told to stay on-site for at least 15 minutes as a precaution.
Dr Frank Chambers told RTÉ News that the system worked effectively.
"It’s a very exciting day. It’s a new venture for us and we’re dealing with a cohort, some of whom haven’t been out in approximately a year plus - some of them haven’t been out in a number of years," he said.
"Their carers and families have put great effort into getting them in here. They don’t have to get out of the car and it’s working very well and moving along very nicely."
Up to 180 people in the over-85 section of the population should receive their first jabs over the course of today and tomorrow at the Ayrfield centre.
It is one of many GP and medical centres offering the Covid-19 vaccinations across Ireland.
Maura Nolan said that receiving the jab was no problem. "I'm delighted. I didn’t really think I’d get it done to be honest with you. We just had to behave ourselves, that was all. Hopefully it works for everybody."
The drive-in concept was "grand," she said, although pondered: "If it’s a rainy day they’ll get drowned. Who’d want to be a doctor now?"
Mary Breen said she "did not feel a bit" of the needle and was "very happy to have it" and "relieved" to have been vaccinated.
"Waiting a long time, but it came quick in the end. Very good," she told RTÉ News.
She was also full of praise for the drive-in service. "Thank God it’s a great system, a very fast system."
