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THE HSE HAS been criticised for how it handled a vaccination error that meant over 200 children needed to have their jabs administered a second time.
One concerned mother told TheJournal.ie that the HSE helpline she and her husband were told to call “weren’t very helpful at all” and they were only given a choice of two dates for their three-year-old to get her vaccination for the second time.
Letters were sent to parents earlier this month to inform them that vaccinations given to their children by one GP may not have been effective due to an error in the way they were administered. It is understood that the GP in question is Dr Derek Graham in Newcastle, west Dublin.
Michelle O’Leary said she and her husband had been attending the GP’s surgery themselves for several years before they had their first child and they brought their daughter there for her vaccinations as a baby.
“We didn’t understand fully at first but when I called them and they explained we couldn’t believe it,” she said. “This was our first child and we hadn’t a clue how it should be done, you trust a GP to know what they’re doing.”
Children were given a mix of vaccinations in one injection instead of separate jabs and O’Leary said she “never thought anything of it”.
Concerns
The mother of two said her main concern was about the potential side effects of giving a child two doses of vaccinations.
“You hear all these horror stories about the negative aspects of giving children vaccinations and even though the first ones might not have been effective that’s still a double dose she’s getting,” she said.
When O’Leary called the HSE helpline to ask about research on this subject she was told a doctor would call her back but yesterday she said she was still waiting for that call.
Her two-year-old son also received two vaccinations mixed in the one injection by the same doctor but received his third elsewhere and the HSE has yet to contact her about his repeat jabs.
“The letter was only for my daughter because she got all three from that GP and my son only got the first two there but they were done in the same way and when I asked them about it they just said they’ll be in touch,” she said.
O’Leary was given a choice of just two dates but will be away on one of them so her three-year-old had to go straight to a HSE clinic for her repeat jab yesterday after her first day in playschool.
“It really ruined the day, she was so hyper coming out of school and then she screamed the place down when we got there, it’s been an absolute nightmare” she said. “I’m just really afraid now that she’ll associate one with the other and won’t want to go back to school.”
A HSE spokesperson confirmed just two dates were offered to parents for repeat vaccinations but said it will “see how things progress”. Responding to O’Leary’s comments about not receiving a letter about her other child the spokesperson said all letters had been sent out and “the HSE can’t comment on individual cases”.
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Shock and horror! Irish person criticises government department. You don’t see much of that these days…
Peter stop scaremongering ! That’s such a selfish and irresponsible comment that only adds to parents concerns. it sounds from the article that instead of giving two separate shots , the doctor made them up into one syringe. If that’s the case , then they haven’t received more than they would have anyway : the vaccine just MAY not be as effective administered in that manner. I think the HSE are handling the communication with parents very badly. Also if they wished to accommodate these children , they should have been offered the option to take their child to any gp of their choice.
What is stopping them from going to any GP of their choice on a day of their choice ?
Would you be in any hurry back to a place who was treating their patients in this brusque manner, having caused the problem in the first place ?
Laura, logistics is stopping them. It’s far easier to ship a fresh batch of vaccines to one GP than it is to several. Most parents wouldn’t trust the original GP despite the fact it was just a simple error, so you could be looking at 10 or 20 locations to deliver to instead of 1 which is extremely costly.
They’ve had to receive a second vaccination on top of the first mixed one they received as babies because the first one MAY not be effective, so the kids involved have received a double vaccination to ensure it is effective so they have received more than normal hence the concern
the extra dose of mercury and heavy metals will make them calm in time for school.
so do you leave your kids take their chances with diseases like diphtheria, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, whooping cough and several others?
we seem to forget just how common and had bad many diseases used to be in Ireland, it isn’t always just a case of a bit of a cough…..there can he many different and often permanent complications
Calm, non responsive and a decent chance of developing Autism
The autism link has been proven incorrect! In fact , the study that showed the supposed autism link has only caused an increase of diseases the mmr inoculated against! The doctor was struck off as he falsified a report on the link, when he himself was working on a new vaccine!
this is the first time I’ve seen the name and location of the doctor I had several people ask me in the last few days if I knew anything about it, thankfully I could reassure them that all cases were one doctor and you’d be contacted of your child needed it but still obviously those people were concerned in the first place sometimes ambiguous statement cause more panic than specific.
My 3 boys need to have their injections again and I rang the help line as I couldn’t get to the clinic I don’t live in Dublin any more still waiting on a phone call from them none forthcoming
H.s.e messed up ohhh u don’t say!!!! Do they ever do any thing else the whole system is a farce
All GPs have these basic vaccines in stock: it would be unusual for them not to have a supply.
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