Mr. Paul Reid:

Very well. I will ask Dr. Henry to comment on the vaccine. All of the serial testing and mass testing at meat plants to date has been funded directly by the State via the HSE. I would like to make one point on serial testing for the committee's information. Serial testing provides the public with a lot of reassurance. I fully respect that and we will need to continue with serial testing in various settings. It represents a very significant cost. For example, I refer to the serial testing of healthcare workers and in nursing homes during the first phase of the response. We completed 99,750 tests in a four-week period. The rate of positive results was 0.13%. It is a very significant cost and absorbs a lot of resources. I appreciate that it gives the public a lot of reassurance, but it is not the major tool with which we can protect the public. I want to state that very clearly. The major tools are the public health measures we can all take. I know serial testing provides reassurance to the public but the positivity rate from such testing is low.