Professor Karina Butler:

One of the good things about this programme is that we have more than one type of vaccine. Fortunately, reactions seem to be type-specific. For example, people will be familiar with the RNA vaccines and the allergic reactions to them. If they have had reactions to such vaccines, they can have a different type of vaccine. Similarly, with the AstraZeneca vaccine, if someone has had an adverse outcome related to that then it is possible to get an RNA vaccine to complete the vaccination. There is a much larger group who have thought they have had an allergic reaction and while we have not been directly involved with this issue, I am certainly familiar with it. The HSE has done an amazing job. It set up special clinics for those who thought they had an allergic reaction with supervision, if it was still deemed appropriate for them to get that reaction, to enable them to become vaccinated. A lot of work had been done by the allergy group, together with NIAC and others, to get good information for those who think they might be allergic to vaccines and to overcome it. A number of steps have been taken. There are always some people who will not respond to vaccines and for those people, the onus is on us to continue to drive the force of infection down in the community and to continue our public health measures to protect them.