The Pfizer- BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is now available in 28 pharmacies in Donegal, the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) has said.
The IPU is now calling for this to be extended, so that all pharmacies registered to administer vaccines have access to Pfizer.
Pharmacies started vaccinating in mid-June and to date have administered over 123,000 vaccines nationwide.
This has predominantly been the Janssen vaccine, available to people aged 18 to 34 and to people 50 years and older in over 950 pharmacies nationwide.
A smaller number of pharmacies, chosen because of their distance to the nearest vaccine centre, are also offering the Pfizer vaccine to patients aged 18 and over, in line with the HSE Vaccination Centres.
Darragh O’Loughlin, Secretary General of the IPU said “Pharmacists are trained, experienced vaccinators and, after long campaigning to be able to vaccinate their local communities, are delighted to finally have the opportunity to support the vaccination campaign. Now the people of Donegal can receive a vaccine in the convenience and comfort of their local pharmacy. People can book an appointment directly with their local pharmacy and, when called, attend at a set time and be on their way home all within 30 minutes.”
