Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As stated, 66,000 doses were administered to the residents and staff of long-term residential care facilities and 77,000 doses to front-line healthcare workers. The HSE also commenced administration of the second dose of the vaccine last week in 27 nursing homes and in hospital groups. That work of administering second doses is being significantly stepped up this week.

The presence of Covid-19 in a number of care facilities continues to be a challenge and has meant that some residents and staff could not be vaccinated. Due to outbreaks of Covid-19, four nursing homes out of a total of 589 were not included in the first series of vaccinations on the basis of public health assessments and in some others it was not possible to vaccinate all residents and staff due to their Covid status. Those who were unable to receive a first dose will be vaccinated once it is deemed safe to do so.

It is important that all stakeholders are aware of how dynamic the situation is with regard to supply chains. This means that Ireland has to employ an agile plan to react to changes. For example, some adjustments may be necessary to the original target of doses being administered in March to take account of AstraZeneca's recent announcement regarding reduced or lower than expected deliveries of its vaccine.

Acting on behalf of member states, the European Commission has negotiated six advance purchase agreements with a range of vaccine suppliers to date. In total, between initial volumes procured and additional opt-ins, Ireland has advance purchased over 14 million doses of vaccine. I wish to acknowledge the major efforts of the European Commission in developing the initiative and bringing it to fruition. Currently there are two vaccines in receipt of conditional market authorisation from the Commission and the European Medicines Agency, EMA. These vaccines, which are produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, have been reviewed by the EMA which has provided significant assurance that they are both safe and effective. These vaccines are currently being administered as part of Ireland's vaccination programme. The reduction in the quantity of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine supplies across the EU for one week was a challenge. The reduction in supply was required to allow the company to make necessary changes to expand its production. The increased level of production capacity will be beneficial for member states, including Ireland.

A third vaccine supplier, AstraZeneca, submitted its application for conditional market authorisation to the EMA and may receive approval from the European Commission as early as tomorrow. Obviously, we are watching that situation very carefully. Ireland has secured 3.3 million doses of this vaccine and it is envisaged that its availability will be crucial in the context of vaccinations to be administered by pharmacists and GPs in our communities. Recently, AstraZeneca advised that it will be unable to meet its initial delivery commitments if or when it receives conditional market authorisation. I am advised that this is due to difficulties arising at one of its manufacturing plants in Belgium. Negotiations with the company are continuing. At a meeting last night, the company was still not in a position to provide clarity on full deliveries after the middle of March. While it is anticipated that this should not impact on the start date for the roll out of the vaccination programme to the over-70s living in the community, its impact upon the pace of vaccinations is still difficult to gauge at present.

It is important to note that funding was provided by the Commission, which leveraged its emergency support instrument, to facilitate production of vaccines on behalf of member states. This instrument is ultimately funded by the member states themselves. AstraZeneca's vaccine has been delivered to other countries outside of the EU. The Commission, understandably, wishes to find out how the funds that it has provided to AstraZeneca were used, given the absence of agreed doses of the vaccine. Greater control measures to monitor the export of vaccines and associated transparency measures may be the best mechanisms to facilitate this process and is something on which the Commission is actively engaged with the company.

A feature of the vaccination programme is that the administration of vaccines will only be limited by supply. While vaccines are currently being administered to the first and second cohorts, namely, those in long-term residential care and front-line healthcare workers, the intention is to provide access to free vaccination for all adults. The vaccination programme conducted by the HSE exceeds expectations and is a testament to the commitment of all involved.

I would like to finish by acknowledging the work of everyone involved in the vaccination programme. This includes: our school vaccination teams, community teams and peer-to-peer hospital teams; our GPs, practice nurses and pharmacists; the trainers who have trained thousands to vaccinate and who will train many thousands more; the Defence forces who are working with us around the country; the national ambulance service, who have been quite extraordinary both in terms of vaccinations and their wider response to Covid; and the nursing home staff, both nurses and administrative staff, who have been really important in making sure we were able to get into the nursing homes as quickly as possible.

It also includes a group of people who do not get much attention and who are not seen, namely, the women and men working behind the front line. A large number of people are working behind the front line in logistics, management, IT and administration. The work done by both those on the front line and those behind it has been amazing. They have stepped up again and again. They work night and day and on weekends to make sure that the vaccination programme keeps moving and that the vaccine keeps getting out to the most vulnerable and to those who protect them. I will finish with a word of thanks to all of them. Not only are they stepping up and doing this incredible work, but they are doing it after a very difficult year in healthcare during which they and their colleagues have been asked to step up again and again, which they have done. I acknowledge them, their work and their commitment. Their work, commitment and professionalism are allowing us to protect our front-line healthcare workers and those who are most vulnerable and will soon allow us to move on to protect those over the age of 70 in the community. I thank them all.

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