Dr. Colm Henry:

I would not use that language. I would much prefer to describe to people the benefits of this vaccine and what they have to gain from it. I hope they can be persuaded by the evidence, which is very strong, particularly from the UK, to which Professor Butler and others have referred, that this vaccine is very effective at preventing those serious consequences of this virus which are very definitively age related. People aged from 60 to 69 have everything to gain from that.

On when the last eligible adult will be vaccinated, as we work through age groups there are greater volumes of people in their 50s, 40s, 30s and 20s. Certainly, as we said previously, this is dependent on supplies. We expect to continue this programme throughout the summer. Of course, it will be an ongoing programme because there will be more people coming into it from those age groups. There may be evidence to come yet, which Professor Butler could talk about, on vaccination of younger age groups including those under 16 years of age. An unresolved question is also emerging as to whether people will receive annual or biannual doses. We do not know.

As of now, at this phase of the programme, we are trying to reach every eligible adult as quickly as possible and that is supply dependent. What the future holds for the vaccination programme in terms of ongoing entry and the requirement for booster doses is as yet uncertain.