Sir, – I have just finished a busy set of nights in a Dublin hospital. Earlier in the week, I admitted a 92-year-old lady who was triple-vaccinated for Covid-19 and required admission for a non Covid-related illness. She lay on a trolley in the emergency department for approximately 24 hours waiting for a bed on the ward.
Last night, I admitted two gentlemen in their late 20s and early 30s respectively, neither with any past medical history. The first required admission to hospital due to inflammation of the airways (Covid pneumonitis) giving him a new oxygen requirement.
The second had persistent nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea for the past four days and was unable to tolerate oral intake due to viral shedding in his gastrointestinal tract secondary to Covid-19. Unfortunately, neither of them was vaccinated.
I have no doubt that neither would have entered the hospital had they been fully vaccinated.
We have an obligation to reflect on the choices we make with regard to vaccination status as we head into what has already become a busy winter season in our hospitals.
– Yours, etc,
FRANK PRENDERGAST,
Sandymount,
Dublin 4.