Dáil debates

Wednesday, 28 April 2021

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

12:20 pm

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

I thank the Deputy for raising these important issues. Of course, it is extremely important to raise the vaccine question. Vaccines are a vital part of our overall strategy to keep the pressure on this virus and to protect people. First, to protect people's health and well-being and then to protect society and enable it to return to near-normal activities. The vaccines have been very effective and impactful in reducing ill health, death and rates of transmission among those who have been inoculated already. It is very evident in hospital settings in terms of front-line healthcare workers, nursing home settings and from what the data is showing for the over-70s. More than 95% of the latter will have been vaccinated this week. That shows the efficacy of the vaccines and the need to keep rolling them out.

Last week, approximately 183,000 people were vaccinated. The objective is to get vaccines out as we get them in. Some 27.5% have received their first dose and about 10.9% have received a second dose. The delivery schedule for quarter 2 is still on track if everything comes in. Everything we have said to date, working with the task force, has been based on supply, orderly delivery schedules and so on. That has not happened all of the time, as we know. We had issues with AstraZeneca which lost us some weeks. We received different advices for Johnson & Johnson which meant the HSE had to go back to operationalise that advice and go back to the logistics. Again, the HSE will now take a number of days to go through the advice from the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, in respect of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines and work it into its planning. The HSE will continue vaccinating, obviously, but will come back with a revised approach following the advice from NIAC. That is understandable.

It is important to remember that that 4.5 million vaccine doses are due in during quarter 2, which is a very high number. The delivery schedules come later in terms of the precision from week to week as to when particular shipments will come in. There was very good news today about Pfizer BioNTech. The largest ever delivery of Pfizer vaccines - 191,800 - to this country has arrived. Pfizer has proved to be particularly reliable.

As regards the Deputy's questions, the NIAC advice is being worked through. The modelling the task force in the HSE has done is on the basis of 450,000 a week and on utilisation of vaccination centres, GPs, pharmacists, the community and the allocation of all available resources. That is the level of modelling that has been done. The objective is to get as many people vaccinated as we possibly can and, notwithstanding all the obstacles and challenges that have arisen, to keep close to those targets by the end of June. Those involved are ready to go at it once we get the supplies in on schedule.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.