Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I welcome all our guests. I want to concentrate my questions on the issue of the flu vaccine. Earlier in our session here, and we are all only too well aware of it, there was discussion about the fact that, pre-Covid, we had a very severe shortage of hospital beds. I think we are all aware of that from the capacity review. That situation has been exacerbated greatly through Covid-19. Obviously, there is the whole question of reserving 20% of bed capacity in the event of a second wave. There are also severe constraints imposed as a result of the need for better infection control and distancing within hospitals, which reduces the bed capacity even further.

On top of that we are heading into the flu season. There is now the prospect of a perfect storm developing in which our hospitals could be overwhelmed. What is the situation in terms of preparation for the flu season? Recently, I saw the figure for the number of people who were hospitalised last year due to the flu, which was 4,300. That is significantly in excess of the total number of people who were hospitalised as a result of Covid-19. There are real challenges facing us and a real prospect of the hospital services being overwhelmed. What steps are being taken to improve the uptake of the flu vaccine to avoid a fairly severe situation arising in the hospitals? The uptake last year and in previous years was not great. What is the current estimate of the number of vaccines the HSE will have to procure? Last year, I believe the figure was 1.2 million vaccines. We should certainly hope to improve on that if we are to avoid serious problems in the hospitals. What number is the HSE estimating for the demand and what number of vaccines has it ordered and is confident it has secured?

In addition, in recent days the EU Commission urged all member states to launch earlier and broader vaccination campaigns against the flu this year to reduce the risk of simultaneous flu and Covid-19 outbreaks in the autumn and to avoid what the Commission refers to as a cocktail of risks. Is the HSE taking that advice from the EU Commission on board and when does it intend to start that campaign for the uptake of the flu vaccine?