Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In response to Deputy Calleary, anybody who is housebound or over 70 will be getting the mRNA vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna and the second dose will be given within 28 days. That is the process that has been taking place since we started the vaccine roll-out and it will continue as far as I know at the moment. That is why the second vaccine is being offered. The Deputy mistook me. Approximately 300 to 400 new people have come on the list in the past week. To date there have been 3,500 referrals from GPs. A total of 1,800 people have been vaccinated successfully. I do not have some on the statistics yet for those who have refused. It is not that another 1,700 people are waiting. There have been many refusals due to issues I mentioned such as people having gone on to nursing homes or to hospitals, people who had already got the vaccine through their GP and people who, unfortunately, have passed away.

The National Ambulance Service is currently operating seven days a week and it has more than ten vehicles, each of which undertakes between 50 and 60 appointments a week. We are currently covering about 400 appointments. I will bring back the point the Deputy made about putting more National Ambulance Service jeeps on the ground. I have been repeatedly contacted in recent weeks. People are very concerned. The HSE is starting today to contact those who had not been contacted yet to let them know they will not be left behind.

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