Dr. Denis McCauley:

It depends on the age group. With the flu vaccine, for example, it has been found that if there is lower coverage in children the rate of spread of flu is actually less. A level of 65% is necessary in the older age group to prevent it from spreading quickly. The evidence of the English research shows that if one gets a smaller proportion of children the spread is less. The cover varies depending on which population one looks at. This is the first year they are planning to do it with children and it will be a different mode of administration; I understand it will be a nasal drop. The evidence in England is that the spread is less, but it depends on which population one looks at.

When the sea of snot starts in September, while one might feel that children are not particularly sick with the flu, they spread it quite a lot. That is unclear with regard to Covid. It varies with the flu. If one has to administer to fewer children, one gets greater results. Those are the English data. We do not have any comparative data in Ireland.