Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We start on a very positive note in the statement the Minister made today. Every week we come here and there are positive soundings from the Minister's statements. That is very good and there is no doubt but that the virus in Ireland is in retreat. The settings that have received it have been liberated by the vaccine because that is the way to get out of this situation.

Over the coming weeks and months a number of scenarios could play out in the roll-out of the vaccine relating to the recommendations by NIAC on the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. There could be a situation where if the recommendation for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine goes the way the AstraZeneca vaccine has gone, that will change the picture. There could be a scenario where there are excess vaccines but only for a particular age cohort. There will be a stage where that age cohort will be reached in the roll-out but there could be an access issue around a vaccine, particularly around the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. That was in a report today on the The Irish Timesonline. Does the Government have a contingency plan if that scenario happens and if there is an excess of vaccines that we could possibly swap with other European countries or other blocs?

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