Western Trust officials are preparing for the roll out of phase one of the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme from December 14.

The vaccine programme will be operated from Omagh Leisure Centre and the Lakeland Forum in Enniskillen, along with Foyle Arena in Derry.

Phase one of the programme is for HSC employees, plus workers in the Independent Sector, Domiciliary Care, Nursing Home Staff, Care Home Staff, Community Pharmacists, Opticians, Dentists, Hospice staff, GPs and staff.

The first batch of the of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine arrived into the North on Friday and the initial consignment of almost 25,000 doses paves the way for vaccinations to commence from early next week, starting with vaccinator teams.

Speaking during a recent Western Trust Board meeting, Dr Anne Kilgallen, Chief Executive of the Western Trust said, “We are very excited about the news that we can prepare for roll out of phase one for health and social care staff.

“Our plan at the moment is to roll out from December 14.

“We will be using Pfizer ‘Courageous’ vaccine which requires two doses to be administered.

“We will operate from three venues, but not every venue will operate everyday.

“Our plan is to deliver the vaccination programme using two vaccination teams operating 7 days per week, excluding Christmas and New Year and to have both doses administered to health and social care staff by the end of January 2021,” said Dr Kilgallen.

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was approved by health officials last week in an enormous breakthrough in the pandemic, and the vaccine roll out is expected to take up a large part of 2021.

Health and social care workers – including care home staff – will be amongst the first priority groups, as will care home residents and those over 80 years old.

Welcoming the arrival of the vaccine, Health Minister Robin Swann said, “We have been anticipating this news for many months and it is hugely welcome to receive the first batch of the vaccine. 

“I have been clear that we still have a long journey ahead of us but we can be optimistic.

“Following authorisation of the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine by MHRA on Wednesday, we have been able to move swiftly to co-ordinate the arrival of the first consignment and will now be able to commence the planned roll-out from early next week,” said Mr Swann.