Dr. Colm Henry:

With respect to healthcare workers, we saw huge uptake across the healthcare system of the primary vaccination course going back to the two-dose schedule everyone got. Healthcare workers embraced it and queued not just to receive the vaccine but also to give it. They partook enthusiastically in the programme. Since then we have seen a waning in uptake of the successive boosters that have come along and of the second booster in particular. It is fair to say that it is a little disappointing. There has been only 24% uptake among healthcare workers. A huge number have taken it but fewer than we had hoped. The flu vaccine has certainly been more successful. It is still an active vaccination programme and the number of healthcare workers who have taken it is in the high 40 percentage points, but there is variation between CHOs and between hospital groups.

Regarding the latest advice, NIAC has extended the booster 2 campaign, which was originally for those aged over-65 and then those aged over-50, to those aged between 18 and 49. We have seen initial high uptake in the first few weeks since that was implemented but again it is waning. We are hopeful but we do not expect to see anything like the uptake we saw for booster 1 among the population, perhaps because the perceived sense of risk and the fear are not as great as they used to be.

We intend to operationalise NIAC's most recent advice on the administration of the bivalent vaccine that is more upgraded in its suitability and focus on the recent sub-variants to those who received a booster before the bivalent vaccine was available. As always the advice we receive from NIAC is dynamic and responding to the latest threats and to the efficacy of the vaccine against the latest variants and against the perceived threat of Covid-19 in the population.