Dr. Colm Henry:

It has always been the case that GPs had apply for reimbursement after the vaccine had been administered. Clearly any system that would improve the timeliness and efficiency of this is something we want to promote. We are constantly talking to the GP community through the Irish College of General Practitioners, ICGP, about how we can support GPs in this important work.

As regards holding back, this has been the practice over the past few years. There has been a greater focus on it this year because of the great uptake of the vaccine, which is very welcome. I thank the Senator for giving me the opportunity to reiterate that no vaccine has disappeared. We are getting mixed reports from some GPs saying that they have enough vaccine for the at-risk groups - for which this vaccine is intended and prioritised - and other GPs, as the Senator correctly noted, saying that they are short. We want to find out where we can direct the remaining 50,000 to those who need it for priority groups.

The Senator is absolutely right; no distinction is made between public, private or otherwise. To reiterate the answer I gave to Deputy Shortall, the only criterion relates to at-risk groups in line with what the WHO advises and our assessment as to where this valuable resource should be directed. This makes no distinction between public and private patients.