Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. That is an excellent question. The answer is that the experts do not know yet. The scientific and medical communities around the world are waiting to find out how long the vaccines last. It may differ for each vaccine and it may differ based on the intervals between vaccinations. What I can say is that we have pre-ordered just under 18.5 million doses, as the Deputy mentioned. If it is the case that boosters are required next winter or at the same time as the flu vaccination, or maybe this time next year, we would certainly have enough to provide them based on our current orders. However, there is an additional complication, which is that the vaccines may need to be adjusted. The flu vaccine we take every year is different each year. It is based on different mutations of the flu coming across from Australia and that part of the world every year. There is still a lot of uncertainty over whether we will need a rolling programme and, if so, what it will be like.