* EMA stands by ruling on AstraZenica
* A musical treat for local carehomes
KILKENNY woman Vicky Phelan has said she is relieved after learning she will receive her first Covid-19 vaccine in the US in the next few days
The CervicalCheck campaigner is currently undergoing cancer treatment in Maryland.
Vicky’s good new came as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) backed continued use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in all adults, in a statement but did confirm a “possible link” to “very rare” cases of blood clotting.
The UK equivalent body, however, said the clots were in people, particularly women, under age 30 and not older people as was originally held.
Although the US has a stockpile of the AstraZenca it has not rolled out that vaccine. Mother-of-two Vicky shared the news with her 60,000 Instagram followers as she posted a video update.
Ahe said: “I am getting the vaccine, I am getting the first dose of the Covid vaccine next Wednesday.
“I’m getting treatment on Tuesday and then my first dose of the vaccine on Wednesday. I’m a little bit worried about how I’ll be but I’m normally fairly sick on a Wednesday, so be it.
“My doctors have cleared it, I checked with my oncologist and he said it’s fine for me to get the vaccine on Wednesday. So, I’m really glad I’m getting it now because it will give me far more freedom than what I have at the moment.”
Ms Phelan said she was looking forward to exploring tourist sights when she is vaccinated. “Once I’m fully vaccinated I will definitely be doing a bit more of the touristy stuff and visit more of Washington DC while I’m here as up until now I haven’t really done any of that because I’ve been too scared of getting Covid and having that interrupt my treatment. There was too much of a risk. So, yeah, things are looking up.”
She thanked people for their support towards the end of the video as she spoke about how much she is missing her family.
“All of the messages of support I’m getting really help to keep me going on days when I really miss my kids and really miss home. So thank you all for that, I really appreciate it.”
In other Covid-19 news, residents in selected local nursing homes throughout Kilkenny are in for a treat this month as a number of ‘Covid Care Outdoor Concerts’ are set to take place.
Mobile Music Machine are behind the initiative in association with Age Friendly Ireland. The concerts begin on Monday, April 19 and run until April 23.
Nurse Manager at Prague House in Freshford, Caroline Casey, said they were all very much looking forward to a return after both residents and staff experienced so much joy from the last concert there.
Meanwhile Fianna Fáil councillor Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere is calling for the passport service to return to work due to the backlog of passports waiting to be processed.
“It is unacceptable that we are now at a point where we have a backlog of 75,500 passports,” said Cllr Cleere.
Figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs show there are approximately 500 passport online applications under process from Kilkenny, while the number of paper applications is not known.
