Dáil debates

Tuesday, 25 May 2021

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions

 

2:25 pm

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am the most pro-vaccine person the Minister will ever meet. I have a track record to show that. The HSE has done an incredible job under very difficult circumstances, many of them outside its control. However, the real issue I am raising is based on the UK study and the sequencing that has been done. The UK has much more data than us, as the Minister rightly said. Those in that age bracket, based on the analysis that has come from our closest neighbour, will in a few months' time have the lowest level of protection, even though it is a quite vulnerable age group. Members of this group wait the longest for a follow-up dose and, according to the analysis, will have the greatest risk of ending up in hospital.

I am asking the Minister to put this forward to NIAC and ask that it be considered as something that we need to give confidence to, for that age cohort in particular. I have been extremely surprised by the number of people who have come to me to outline this argument, and it is growing. At least if the Minister puts it to NIAC, and it comes back and gives reassurance, that issue will be dealt with. I would appreciate it if the Minister would do so.

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