The grandson of a 98-year-old woman who is still waiting for her vaccine said hope has 'ebbed away'.
Declan Wilkes' grandmother, Sarah Ryan, is housebound in Co Clare.
He told The Hard Shoulder they have had no clarity or timeframe.
"We're a little bit worried now about when that even might happen.
"There's been little to no communication that she was even in a third sub-category, as it is, nor that it was now divorced from her GP and in the hands of the Ambulance Service and the HSE.
"And it's just left us twisting in the wind.
"It's just very, very worrying as to when it's actually going to happen, and even up to this stage we've just not had the reassurance or timeframes - it just feels like we've been forgotten".
'GP said to contact our TD'
Declan said he contacted the HSE in January, and was directed to a PDF document.
"It's been that shoddy in terms of information that we haven't a clue where to go to.
"We asked our GP [and] she said to contact our TD - it's exasperating.
"I contacted the HSE back in January … and they directed me to a PDF - which had no mention of the housebound and had no mention of anything to do with care received at home".
And he said his grandmother is now depressed as a result.
"I think it was when she saw the President on TV, she just nodded her head and sank back in her seat and said 'I've been forgotten'.
"They are made of tough stuff, this generation, but after the whole year we've had - and to get to this point where there's hope and just be completely absent in the minds of our leaders or our decision makers - it's left her in a bad place".
Declan said everyone, including his grandmother, thought vaccination would be quick.
"This'd be the second time we've been passed over now: she receives care at home, but wasn't in that residential care category.
"So we thought 'OK, grand we're in the second wave' - but that hope has just ebbed away now.
"It was almost worse having the hope of it and then just being forgotten".
He added that he cannot understand the approach by the HSE.
"There is just an all too casual attitude to this - I've seen some of the reports from whomever in the HSE is in charge of this - saying 'We're going to start in Dublin and then we'll go down the south'.
"It's not a roadshow, it's not a tour - it's very important stuff - so they just need to get a grip of this and step up big time".
"People every year get their flu vaccine at home by a nurse, the mind boggles".
