Public Health Measures

You can find the public health measures here.

COVID-19 Testing – Online Booking System

Full details of how to get tested are available here.

COVID-19 Contact Tracing – Online System

If you test positive for COVID-19 you will get a text message. This will include a link to a website where you can upload contact details for your close contacts. If you do not use the website, a contact tracer will phone you to collect the details. You can find out more about close contacts here.

Mixed vaccines doses

People who received a first dose of AstraZeneca can now receive an mRNA (Pfizer/Moderna) vaccine as their second dose. NIAC recommends that receiving two doses of the same vaccine are preferred for all age groups, where possible. You can read more about this here. Dose 2 walk-in vaccination clinics for people who wish to get an mRNA vaccine after their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine are listed here.

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme

You can find the latest information on vaccines administered here.

 

Walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinics

You can also get your vaccine without an appointment at a walk-in clinic. The walk-in clinics open this week are listed here.

Walk-in clinics are open for people aged 12 and older. Children aged 12 to 15 must attend with their parent or guardian.

Most walk-in clinics are for the first or second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The type of vaccine being offered is listed next to the clinic’s details.

You can read about going to a walk-in vaccination clinic here.

Please note: there are no booster doses at walk-in clinics.

Walk-in clinics are for first and second dose only. You cannot get a booster dose at a walk-in vaccination clinic. You can find more information on the booster dose here.

Find a pharmacy giving COVID-19 vaccines

Many pharmacies are now offering COVID-19 vaccines to people aged 12 and over. Find a pharmacy to book your vaccine appointment. You can find more information here.

Where to find COVID-19 Vaccination Information

We encourage everyone to read about the COVID-19 vaccine and to get their information from a factual, trusted source – here are the links to the pages with information on the vaccine:

Free nasal spray flu vaccine for children – new video

This week (18 October), the HSE began its annual information campaign for parents and guardians about the children’s flu vaccine. Children are twice as likely as adults to catch the flu, which can sometimes cause serious illness. That’s why all children aged 2 to 17 can now get their free, nasal spray flu vaccine. It’s a safe and effective way to protect them, and the rest of the family too. Please share our new video to let parents and guardians know they can now make an appointment with their GP or Pharmacist. Visit https://www.hse.ie/flu for more information.

 

Flu vaccine for people aged 65 or over

It’s time for people aged 65 or over to get their free, annual flu vaccine. While anyone can catch the flu, they’re more at risk of getting seriously ill or needing hospital treatment. The new flu vaccine is the best way to be protected from the flu, and it’s free from their GP or Pharmacist. Flu vaccines will also be available this autumn for healthcare workers, pregnant women and those with health conditions that put them at risk of becoming seriously ill if they get the flu. Visit http://www.hse.ie/flu

Flu Vaccine is available for healthcare workers in Section 39 organisations

Flu vaccine and its administration are available free of charge to healthcare workers working in Section 39 organisations. Flu vaccine is available from a local GP or pharmacy or some workplaces provide flu vaccine through an occupational health clinic.

Visit www.hse.ie/flu for information about why it’s important for healthcare workers to get their flu vaccine.

Let’s go easy on the treats – try to give them to children less often and in small amounts

Latest research on treats for the START campaign finds that parents and guardians believe that talking to their children and encouraging moderation will help families reduce treats and replace them with healthier snacks.

We have expert videos, recipe ideas, healthy snack options, print resources and a suite of social media assets to help you on our dedicated START partner page. We hope that you find these useful and share them with your colleagues and partners. You can do this by:

We are also organising a webinar for people interested in finding out more about healthier snacks and how to broach the subject with children with well-known psychotherapist Dr Colman Noctor, in late November. We will share further details with you. The START campaign is brought to you by the HSE, safefood and Healthy Ireland, DoH.

Sláintecare Healthy Communities Programme 

Sláintecare Healthy Communities is a new cross-Government initiative to deliver increased health and wellbeing services to 19 community areas across Ireland. The programme will be delivered in partnership with the HSE, local authorities, local communities, statutory, voluntary and community groups. A new €13m Sláintecare initiative has been launched to support increased health and wellbeing services to 19 communities in Ireland.

The investment will fund new posts including staff working at community level to engage, support and coordinate these activities in an effective manner.

You can find more information here.

HSE Health & Wellbeing as a key partner, at local and national level in this initiative, is providing health and wellbeing programmes to help build the overall wellbeing within the communities through the increased delivery of supports to quit smoking, improve healthy eating and improve mental wellbeing and reduce isolation. This includes, the increased rollout of parenting programmes with Tusla under Sláintecare Healthy Communities.

Sláintecare Healthy Communities will support the physical and mental health of the communities as well as support improvement in the wider determinants of health in those communities, such as education, housing, social support and the built environment.

Healthy Ireland Progress Report

You are invited to the launch of the HSE Healthy Ireland Progress Report 2015–2020 on 2nd November 2021 from 2-3.30pm. Also speaking at the launch is guest speaker Prof Cíaran O’Boyle, Founding Director at RCSI Centre for Positive Psychology and Health who will share his expertise on building awareness and the scientific understanding of positive health and well-being. You can register here.

Nursing Homes Support Scheme Legislation updated

Changes to the Nursing Home Support Scheme also known as Fair Deal took effect from 20th October 2021.

The main changes to the scheme are:

  • The net proceeds of the sale of the family home are subject to the 3 year cap.
  • The 3 year cap is extended to Farm and Business Assets

The changes may affect:

  • a person in nursing home care who intends to sell their family home
  • a person in nursing home care who has already sold their family home
  • farmers or business owners availing of nursing home care under Fair Deal

No one receiving nursing home care will be negatively impacted by these changes.  You can find more information on the changes to the scheme here.

Public Health Information

As always, for the most up to date information and advice on Coronavirus, please go to: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/ and https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/. Clinical and professional guidance relating to COVID-19 is available on www.hpsc.ie where you’ll find up to date guidance for healthcare settings and non-clinical settings.

You can find the COVID-19 A-Z information here from the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).

Please also check the Healthy Ireland site herehere with further resources and information on the Keep Well campaign.

You can view the latest information on how Ireland is responding to cases of COVID-19 here.

Ireland’s COVID-19 Data Hub is available here.