Earlier this year, the Health Service Executive announced that from October, they would be administering the BCG routinely to all new-borns in Cork, which protects against Tuberculosis (TB), bringing Cork in step with the rest of the country where the vaccine is already routinely administered.

Following extensive discussions between staff at the Cork University Maternity Hospital and Community Services it was decided that it would be best to roll-out the service at the end of this month and although times, frequency, venues, clinics and staffing levels have been identified between these groups, it now appears that the clinic will not open before next week.

This follows a recent announcement by the Health Service Executive (HSE) that there could be a potential interruption to the BCG vaccination programme across the country.

The possible interruption to this programme is a result of regulatory difficulties being experienced by the Danish manufacturer of the BCG vaccine and is a Europe wide problem .

The Health Service Executive have been unable to provide a revised date for when the clinic will start operating but, say that once they receive confirmation of when vaccine stock deliveries resume they will be in a better position to confirm the date of the introduction of the routine BCG.

“In the interim, clinics to administer the BCG, upon request, remain in operation.  Additional clinics were set up throughout the county last May and staff continue to administer the vaccine to those on the list as well as accepting new referrals,” the spokesperson said.

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