Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue but I assure him that there is no need for people not to have confidence in the vaccination programme. It will be very comprehensive and will be ramped up as further vaccines are authorised and made available to us. The only limiting factor at the moment is the supply of vaccines. The only significant volumes we have received to date are from Pfizer BioNTech, which have enabled us to prioritise front-line healthcare workers and residents and staff of long-term care facilities. That will be the priority up to the weekend. By Sunday, all staff and residents in nursing homes and long-term care facilities will have been vaccinated with their first dose, as well as potentially up to 70,000 front-line healthcare workers. My understanding is that we have received approximately 152,000 vaccines and by next Sunday, 142,000 of those will have been administered. We are literally getting the vaccines out as we get them in to the country.

We have a much more comprehensive and detailed plan for ramping up the volume of vaccinations in the next phase, particularly after the authorisation by the European Medicines Agency of the AstraZeneca vaccine which, all going well, should be on 29 January, with delivery expected in mid-February.

This will be followed by the Janssen vaccine, which we expect to be authorised a month later. We will also be getting more supplies from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. There will, therefore, be a very significant ramping-up. The Deputy has correctly identified the workforce issues. GPs and pharmacies are now ready to distribute the AstraZeneca vaccine and others. We are also working to expand that workforce so there can be a full national campaign to vaccinate the nation as soon as possible. The Deputy should be in no doubt about that. The workers he has represented and whose concerns he has articulated are on the front line, particularly in home care settings. I will feed his comments back to the national task force. We take advice on clinical priorities from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, which is headed by Dr. Karina Butler, and from the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET. It is on the basis of this advice that we decide the sequencing and priority of those who are to get the vaccine. The evidence base suggests that the existing vaccines reduce illness and mortality. It is necessary to vaccinate the eldest and most vulnerable in our society, as well as those on the front line. If we do that, we will reduce mortality, risk and illness. I will take on board the representations the Deputy has made.

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