A woman with cystic fibrosis, who recently underwent treatment for cervical cancer, has said she cannot get clarity on her coronavirus vaccine.
Aoife Rafter (29) from Kildare told Lunchtime Live she keeps being told different things.
"I take steroids and tons of medications and treatment for my health - so because of that I've had to cocoon on and off since the very beginning of lockdown.
"So it's been a very difficult few years, at this point, now.
"I'm cocooning, I'm basically not spending time with anyone outside my family".
She said she has been trying to get information on her vaccine, and has even started a campaign with other people who have medical conditions.
"There's such a lack of clarity around the entire issue... I'm really not alone in the fact that I'm going to my GP asking 'When can I get the vaccine?'
"My GP says 'I think you have to go to your consultant in your CF clinic, because they can determine if you are sick enough to be considered as having stable CF or not'.
"Within cohort four, people who have stable CF aren't included in getting that urgent vaccine.
"I go to the consultant and the CF team, and they're saying they don't know anything as of yet - they haven't even started the rollout - and some of them are saying 'Maybe your GP will do it'.
"So there's just a complete lack of communication and clarity, which is one of the most frustrating aspects of it all".
'People being left behind'
Aoife said she also does not qualify under her cancer diagnosis, as she has not had a treatment in the last six weeks.
"There's a lot of people being left behind in this, and that's why Vaccines for Vulnerable - the campaign on social media - is taking place.
"We have to highlight these stories: 93% of people who died from COVID had an underlying condition.
"There's people with lung transplants that are kind of getting more notice, but then there's so many people with CF that haven't had lung transplants that are extremely unwell.
"It's a complete scatter mess, it just doesn't make sense".
She added that there are people who may not even be aware the vaccine is not coming their way soon.
"There's so many people who have illnesses that aren't even aware that they might not fit into cohort four.
"Some people are sitting at home, expecting to get the urgent vaccine, they think they're in cohort four - but there's so many grey areas - and so many people getting left behind that don't even realise it".
Aoife said while she has got in touch with officials, she has received "a lot of generic responses, automated responses that are just repeating what we already know".
'Some really dark times'
Aoife said she has had "some really dark, dark times", and that attending her medical appointments has been daunting.
"I attend five different clinics as an outpatient in three hospitals, and it's been really scary attending for those appointments when there's been COVID in the hospitals.
"I was admitted a couple of weeks ago with my cystic fibrosis for IV antibiotics, and you could really tell there was a lot of healthcare rationing.
"Our ward for CF holds 20 beds, and there was only five people in - and this was February, which is still quite an infectious, cold time of year for respiratory diseases.
"So it was still really evident that people are absolutely terrified to be getting their treatments."
