17k doses of COVID vaccine issued by Western Trust with ‘overwhelming majority’ of staff covered, says Derry vaccinator Garrett Martin

Garrett Martin confirmed 8,000 people have now received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at St. Columb’s Park.

“It’s been a monumental effort from so many people. The teamwork has been incredible. We’re getting through so many more vaccines than originally I suppose was in our plan,”he said.

Last week the Western Trust programme opened up to a wider group of staff who provide services to the Trust including community organisations, domiciliary care workers and contracted workers.

“We’re now at a point where the overwhelming majority of our staff who require and who want the first vaccine, that that has been delivered,” he said on Friday.

Across the Western Trust 12,500 vaccine have already been administered across the three mass vaccination hubs in Derry, Enniskillen and Omagh. Overall however, the Trust has administered 17,000 COVID-19 vaccines, including roll out to care home residents and staff, while GP surgeries are continuing to deliver a separate programme to the general population.

Mr Martin said: “It’s the light at the end of the tunnel and staff are really enjoying working here. It’s something we will continue. We’re committed to being here and delivering this for as long as needs be.”

Meanwhile, the seven-day coronavirus rate per 100,000 fell again in Derry & Strabane yesterday. Between January 11 and 17, there were 315 confirmed cases, giving a seven day rate per 100,000 of 209.1, down from a figure of 222.8 reported on Sunday.

The rate has fallen consistently for over a fortnight. The only district with a lower rate is Ards and North Down where the equivalent figure is 198.3.

Sadly four more people died in Derry and Strabane at the weekend after testing positive. A woman aged over 80 died in a community setting on Friday. Two men, one aged 60 to 79, and another aged over 80 died in hospital on Saturday.
A woman, aged 60 to 79, also died in hospital on Friday although her death was included in the daily update at the end of last week. Nine people, ranging from their 20s to their 70s, were admitted to Altnagelvin with COVID-19 over the weekend. At midnight on Sunday 108 coronavirus patients were being treated in local hospitals.

Six of 14 ICU beds at Altnagelvin were being used to treat COVID-19 patients; six were occupied by patients with other conditions. Two beds were free. Seven ICU patients in total were being ventilated - three were COVID-19 patients and four were non-COVID-19 patients. In terms of general occupancy 19.33% of beds at Altnagelvin were ‘COVID-19 occupied’, 72.39% were ‘other occupied’ and the hospital had 6.75% capacity left in the system: 1.53% were ‘awaiting admission.’