The Coombe Hospital in Dublin gave leftover vaccine doses to family members of its staff.
The Health Minister says he’s aware of what happened and that it was not in line with the national vaccine strategy.
For both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, there is a six hour window in which they must be used once fully defrosted and prepared.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said he will speak with the chair of the Coombe hospital's board to find out what happened.
Master of the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, Prof Michael O’Connell said,
“The decision to use the vaccines that had already been made up was made to ensure that not a single reconstituted vaccine was wasted."
"Had they not been used they would have been discarded."
"I was keenly aware of that and throughout the evening and from 9.30pm onward I personally made every effort to prioritise and identify additional front-line workers and followed all measures available to me at the time."
"In hindsight as Master I deeply regret that family members of employees were vaccinated and for that I wholeheartedly apologise.”
16 leftover doses remained at the end of the Dublin maternity hospital’s vaccine clinic on the 8th of January - and they were administered to relatives of staff.
