Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Okay. With regard to cohorts that have received the first dose of AstraZeneca, there is a wide range of concern about the recent evidence showing that there is only 33% protection against the Indian variant. Even with the second dose, it is still only 60%.

Many people aged over 60 and under 60 are concerned about the implications of that. Generally, we should be concerned about that into the coming critical months when many people will be moving around more and because of the existence of the Indian variant. The Minister confirmed that he is sticking with the 12-week interval. Has consideration been given to using an alternative vaccine for the second dose, which would provide a greater level of protection to all those cohorts over and under 60 years of age?

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