Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and the Deputy for his question and statement. The answer is that NIAC looked very carefully at all of the evidence to date, including new information which it did not have when it came up with the original provisional prioritisation. As the Deputy will be aware, for example, NIAC have shown that if one compares the risk of death from Covid-19 for someone between the ages of 20 to 35 and between 60 to 64, the 60 to 64-year-old is more than 70 times more likely to die from Covid-19. Age is the single biggest predictor and the prioritisation from NIAC and NPHET has come to Government on the basis that this is how we minimise the damage of Covid-19 in the quickest time possible, saving as many lives as possible and allowing us to open the country as quickly as possible.

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