FRIDAY is the last chance for parents of eligible babies to avail of free RSV immunisation as clinics across Limerick, Clare, and North Tipperary end this week.
This year’s RSV Pathfinder Programme introduced a catch-up initiative that allowed parents of babies (born between March 1st and August 31st 2025) to avail of this free immunisation at a HSE clinic in their community.
The catch-up RSV immunisation programme is scheduled to end this Friday December 12, and doctors are urging parents of eligible babies to book an appointment o help avoid an illness which has seen vulnerable babies hospitalised.
Appointments can be booked at https://myhealth.hse.ie/Scr100?source=216A7F48-FA91-48D4-8D1A-7D8F58FC463A
HSE Mid West will facilitate walk-ins at designated clinic times. A spokesperson said: “We are also pleased to confirm that the Mid West has been the best performing region in the country for both maternity immunisation programme (93.2%) and catch-up community programme (53.6%). We would like to thank all parents and guardians for availing of this essential winter immunisation programme”.
Limerick mother, Lynsey Duhig, from O’Briens Bridge, is urging other parents of newborns to get this free immunisation, after availing of the RSV programme for her twins, Aaron and Avery.
“We both feel as parents with premature twins it was extremely important to protect them from respiratory infections throughout the winter months,” Lynsey said.
Dr Geradline Casey, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, said there is still a chance for parents to avail of the programme this week.
“We have already seen a reduction in babies ending up in hospital with RSV, a trend that we saw last year after the successful maternity Pathfinder programme. We are just weeks away from the Christmas holidays. Availing of this free immunisation programme is an added protection for your child’s first Christmas,” Dr Casey said.
RSV is a seasonal respiratory illness that can affect any age group but can be particularly severe in young children. RSV is the most common cause of hospital admissions due to acute respiratory illness in young children. It can cause chest infections like bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lungs) in infants and the risk is highest in children aged less than six months of age.
The RSV immunisation programme is being delivered by trained midwives in all maternity settings after birth and before the baby is discharged, and by the immunisation teams in the community for children born between 1 March and 31 August 2025.