Dublin City Council’s Women’s Committee calls for carers of loved ones to be vaccinated

Dublin City Council’s Women’s Committee has expressed concerns that family carers are not being prioritised for Covid-19 vaccinations and has called on the Taoiseach and Minister for Health to act now and ‘to do the right thing by carers.’

Speaking on behlaf of the Committee, Cllr. Deirdre Heney says that “our over 70’s citizens have been cocooning at home for over a year now, as have our vulnerable citizens with underlying conditions. 

“We in the Women’s Committee of Dublin City Council feel that it is unfair in the extreme, that carers of loved ones are not being vaccinated at the same time as their over 70 or vulnerable loved one.  

“It makes no sense at all to vaccinate a person who requires the care of his or her loved one, not to vaccinate that loved one at the same time.”.

“In light of the fact that the Beacon Hospital administered left over Covid-19 vaccines to non-priority recipients (and previous incidents of family members of the Coombe hospital being vaccinated out of turn) it is now time to give these carers a break and acknowledge their vital role in our society.”.

“The Women’s Committee of Dublin City Council earnestly requests you Taoiseach and Minister for Health to do the right thing now and prioritise vaccinating carers at the same time as their vulnerable loved one, or at least, arrange to call such carers forward in circumstances where surplus vaccines are available, as in the case of the Beacon and Coombe hospitals.”

The 2016 Census showed a total of 195,263 persons (4.1% of population) were providing unpaid assistance to others, with just over 6 in 10 carers (60.5%, 118,151 carers) being women and 77,112 (39.5%) men.

There were 3,800 children under 15 years engaged in providing care to others, accounting for 1.9 per cent of all carers.