The HSE’s Covid-19 vaccination programme has been expanding in scale and pace since the rollout began in December 2020 and now students in health professions are being recruited to join the vaccinator workforce. These students will be contributing to the national effort and playing a key role in protecting the population.

NMBI supports the administration of the Covid-19 vaccine(s) by student nurses and midwives whose name is entered on the candidate register of NMBI and are:

• entering 3rd year in autumn 2021
• entering 4th year in autumn 2021
• currently in 4th year or awaiting exam results (4th year).

The legislation (S.I. 245 of 2021 – Medicinal Products (Prescription and Control of Supply) (Amendment) (No.7) Regulations 2021) provides for vaccines to be administered as part of the vaccination programme under medicine protocols, developed, approved and signed off nationally by the HSE.

All vaccinators are required to complete Covid-19 vaccine-specific training provided by the HSE, and to support this, a guidance document has been developed for the administration of vaccines by student vaccinators in centralised vaccination clinics (CVCs).

The Covid-19 Induction, Supervision, and Competency Assessment and Practice Protocol for Students as Vaccinators provides information on the following areas:

• the process, roles, and responsibilities of preparing students as vaccinators to undertake the role of vaccinator under the direction of specific Covid-19 medicines’ protocols (at CVCs only)
• guidance and relevant documentation to monitor, assess and support the students as vaccinators in CVCs
• the key components of training that are required for each student to become a vaccinator in order for them to be able to vaccinate safely and in accordance with the practice protocol
• promotion of quality, safety, and standardisation in the administration of Covid-19 by students as vaccinators in CVCs.