Children and young people are being encouraged to come forward for their Coronavirus vaccinations, with the Western Health and Social Care Trust (Western Trust) announcing plans for the next stage of its vaccination programme that will invite children and young people to come forward.

According to the latest data released yesterday, 529 of the Covid-19 cases reported within the council area in the past seven days, out of 1,163 cases as detailed below, were in those aged 0-19, lending extra urgency to the call to vaccinate children, where possible.

As part of the latest vaccination drive, children aged 5 to 11 years in a clinical risk group, or children who are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed, are now being offered a first-dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, with an interval of eight weeks between their first and second doses.

GPs will be writing out to the families of these children to advise them to make a booking on a Trust site for their child to receive their vaccinations.

These children will not be able to attend general clinics, only those being held specifically for 5 to 11-year-olds. 

The second group of young people are the 12 to 17-year-olds who received their first dose through their school or college.

There will be no further vaccinations taking place in secondary schools, so those who are due a second dose are encouraged to attend any of the public clinics being held in the Trust’s vaccination hubs.

Last weekend saw the closure of mass vaccination centres in large leisure centre settings, and the programme will now instead be delivered at three ‘hub’ facilities at hospital sites across the geographical reach of the Western Trust. 
Hubs will take place locally at the Key Worker Accommodation block at the South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), and the Old School Canteen at the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital in Omagh.

Clinics will take place on a range of days and times, including evenings and weekends. 
The public clinics remain open for anyone who is eligible for a first, second or booster vaccination dose.

Online bookings are encouraged to avoid having to wait, although a very limited number of walk-ins will be accommodated at all public vaccination clinics.

The latest data from the Department of Health released yesterday, Wednesday, February 2 shows that there are 20 patients with Covid-19 in the SWAH.

There is one Covid-19 patient in ICU at the SWAH, where according to the latest information, the SWAH’s bed capacity stands at 115.7 per cent.

Locally, the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area recorded 182 new Covid-19 cases within the past 24 hours, bringing the total amount of cases locally to 33,580  people.

From January 25 to February 1, there were 661 positive Covid-19 cases recorded in the area’s postal districts, with the BT74 area recording 207 cases; BT92 seeing 166; BT93 seeing 104; and BT94 seeing 184.

The seven-day positive cases rate per 100,000 people in the council area was 991, which equates to 1,163 positive cases.

There were five Covid 19-related deaths recorded in the previous 24 hours across Northern Ireland, according to Wednesday’s report, bringing the total amount of Covid-19 deaths to 3,120 people.

Locally, according to the latest data, the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area remained at 142 people deaths.