Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will be sharing time with the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan.

It is fair to say at this point that our vaccine programme has been an enormous success. Uptake has been phenomenal and it is something we should all be immensely proud of as a society.

It has not been plain sailing, as colleagues will know, and I know many Members have had concerns in the past, just as I have had, at different stages through this programme.

Earlier on in our roll-out programme, we faced some real challenges in supply and some remain. Evolving evidence meant we had to regularly change our plan and update our implementation. Unlike other European countries, we did not have digital records at the level that we should have had. There were concerns about our capacity to deliver the biggest vaccination programme in the history of our State.

I remember when US President Joe Biden unveiled his ambitious vaccination plan. I wondered whether we, and indeed our European neighbours, would catch up with the United States. We did catch up. More of our adult population have now received a first dose vaccination than is the case in the United States. This did not just happen. It was not down to chance, or luck. If Members will allow me, I would like to pay tribute to the Department of Health, the HSE and its leadership team, the tremendous workers right across the country and indeed to the task force for the enormous contribution they have made in making this programme a success.

Approximately 20 people join me on the vaccination task force meeting on Mondays. Some are household names we all have come to know and others are not. It is through their hard graft and determination that we have the highest take-up rates of the vaccine in the European Union for the most vulnerable groups. We have many talented people working behind the scenes in our public sector and they are regularly working together alongside us into the early hours day after day. As a country, we will forever be indebted to their dedication and hard work - I want to re-emphasise this point to the entire healthcare family in every county in Ireland - as well as to the amazing partnership we have had with the likes of the Defence Forces, voluntary groups and volunteers right across the country.

I know the Oireachtas is hugely grateful to everyone who has been involved in that partnership. I also thank people for their enthusiasm, including Annie Lynch, who was the first person in the country to be vaccinated. I remember having a telephone conversation with Annie and her niece the morning Annie was to be vaccinated. Our first vaccination seems like an eternity ago now. I also thank everyone in our vaccination centres, including our wonderful volunteers. We all know that there have been a lot of challenges and that it has been a bumpy road rolling out the vaccine programme. However, as a society, a healthcare system and an Oireachtas, we have overcome those challenges on each and every occasion, and progress continues to be made.

The Delta variant presents us with another deeply unwelcome but, unfortunately, very real and immediate challenge. Vaccines are one of the most powerful preventative measures we can use against both the spread of the Delta variant and the damage it can do to people who contract it. Vaccination protects the people vaccinated but, just as importantly, it protects the people around us as well. This is not just about individual vaccinations; it is about a population vaccination programme.

While the recent cyberattack continues to impact the HSE's business activities and some healthcare delivery, it has not been allowed to impact the State's ability to deliver the vaccination programme, which is critical. Therefore, in spite of the attack, I can advise colleagues that almost 4.2 million vaccine doses have now been administered; more than two in every three adults in our country have now received at least one vaccine dose; and, at 45%, we are getting close to one adult in every two being fully vaccinated. Last week, the vaccine programme delivered the highest number of vaccines yet. It was a record week, with in excess of 350,000 vaccines delivered. This week will see in excess of 300,000 doses administered, probably between 310,000 and 330,000. The vaccine programme continues at pace. I can provide confirmation to colleagues on a measurement we have all been keen to ensure we endeavour to meet. It has been a cornerstone of our programme. The volume of vaccine that goes out is the volume that has arrived into the country. I refer to that really high percentage, well into the 90s, of vaccines getting into people's arms within seven days of arriving into the country. In spite of numerous challenges and changes, that pace has been maintained, which is really welcome.

The HSE is now accepting registrations for vaccination from those aged 35 to 39 and is scheduling appointments for that age group. I announced yesterday that registration for those aged 30 to 34 will commence next week. I can confirm to colleagues this morning that the portal will open to those aged between 30 and 34 on Friday. As has been the case with previous age groups, on the Friday the portal will open to 34-year-olds, on the Saturday to 33-year-olds, etc. That is how it will work. I confirm to the House this morning that we will see, in addition to this, a significant acceleration of the vaccine programme beginning this coming Monday. In short, the changes we are implementing from Monday will mean that the 18 to 34 years age group will have the option of being vaccinated one to two months early. That would have been really welcome regardless of the Delta variant and this surge but is particularly so in light of the modelling we saw from Professor Nolan's team as to what is likely to happen here through August and September. To be able to pull forward a huge number of people from September into August and some from August into July is incredibly valuable and will help us to protect one another and protect our population from the Delta surge that we know is coming.

I recently sought advice from NIAC specifically on the Johnson & Johnson, or Janssen, and AstraZeneca vaccines for the groups for which it was not available, that is, those aged 40 and below. This was in the context of the Delta wave. The question was whether, if we see the surge we are seeing in the UK arrive here, the advice can be updated to accommodate the higher risk of not taking a vaccine, since the risk of being infected goes up without a vaccine. While the data are still coming in and there is not consensus yet in the scientific community, there are serious pieces of research that suggest not only that the Delta variant is much more contagious but it is also potentially much more severe. There is some analysis that says the variant is about as severe as the Alpha variant in respect of the likelihood that it will put an individual in hospital. There is other analysis from the UK that says it could be two and a half times more likely to do so, or more. Obviously, therefore, accelerating the administering of vaccines and making the vaccines we have available to younger people in the face of that threat, I believed, was very important. Essentially, we could use every vaccine dose we had because, without this change, we would be left with supplies of Janssen and AstraZeneca, incredibly effective vaccines, and would not have been able to use them because everyone over 40 would have already been vaccinated. The changed advice from NIAC is therefore very much welcome.

The online portal for the mRNA vaccines we are all aware of will continue. As I said, this day next week it will open to the 30 to 34 age group. People in that age group will very quickly start getting appointments, and first dose vaccinations for them will start about a week after that. The current estimates - and this is important for people aged between 18 and 29 - for when their mRNA round of first dose vaccinations will begin are as follows. For the 25 to 29 age group, the estimate is early August, and for the 18 to 24 age group the estimate is from mid-August. For anyone in that group who is thinking, "I will be scheduled for an mRNA vaccine but I now have an option of a Janssen or AstraZeneca vaccine earlier - do I want to take that?", those dates are important to consider. Again, for those aged 18 to 24 it will be late August and for those aged 25 to 29 it will be early August.

In parallel with the portal for mRNA vaccines, from this coming Monday we will open up an opt-in model for those aged between 18 and 34. That, as I said, is so that if they want to avail of earlier vaccination, they may opt for either a Janssen or an AstraZeneca vaccine. People will be able to seek an appointment in one of over 700 pharmacies across the country for a Janssen vaccine, subject to supply. I will come back to this, but we do not have an infinite amount; it is subject to supply. That is from this coming Monday, 5 July.

The following week, the week of 12 July, those aged between 18 and 34 will also be able to register on the HSE portal for an appointment in a vaccine centre for an earlier vaccination. In the main, that will be AstraZeneca and there will be some Janssen supply available as well. The point is that they will then be vaccinated earlier than if they had waited for an mRNA vaccine. Supplies of Janssen and AstraZeneca will be somewhat limited during July, but we expect that supplies will be able to accommodate a significant number of this age group through July. To give colleagues a sense of this, the estimates we have as of this morning are that for this age group there should be between 205,000 and 210,000 Janssen doses available in July, and we have line of sight of about 100,000 AstraZeneca doses. That is after all the second doses are done, so those are new first doses. AstraZeneca is committed to providing significantly higher numbers than that. We do not have confirmation of that, so we are sticking with what we have confirmation of now. Essentially, the approximate numbers are between 205,000 and 210,000 Janssen vaccines and 100,000 AstraZeneca vaccines for July, and then significant amounts again into August.

As we unravel each lockdown measure, increasing the range of day-to-day freedoms we can enjoy, we must also have regard, obviously, to the progression of the disease, both internationally and domestically. The emergence and progression of the Delta variant is an issue which gives rise to other new decisions which now must be taken. It is unfortunate that these decisions have to be taken at a moment in time when many indoor activities, including hospitality, dance classes, other activity classes, were on the cusp of opening up. I know a huge amount of work was being done in hospitality, exercise, dance and all sorts of sectors getting ready.

Everyone was really looking forward to being able to open up on Monday. However, the Government and the Oireachtas were obligated to review all the evidence to hand before making a judgment to make sure that people are as protected as possible. I understand that these decisions have not been easy.

NPHET was tasked with carrying out an assessment of the evidence in order to determine whether to reopen. This is a responsibility it does not take lightly and which it has always conducted with the highest degree of professionalism. As they have always done, the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, and his public health colleagues carefully considered all aspects before making their recommendations, which the Government then took account of. I wish to put on the record of the House just how disappointed and uncomfortable I have been with some of the public commentary and the online vitriol that has been directed at senior figures in NPHET in recent days. These people have worked tirelessly for the past 18 months. I have enormous respect for them. They do have an important and difficult job that they have to do.

I will conclude by saying the potential danger of the Delta variant is substantial. Delta surges are being seen in the UK and other European countries. Scotland, for example, is recording its highest ever Covid case rates despite a large portion of its population having been vaccinated. I know colleagues will agree that the Delta variant is very serious despite the progress in vaccination. The message I want to get out, and I ask Members to help with this, is that we must do two main things - we have to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, as quickly as possible, and we have to help people to stick to the public health measures. Things have been going well and naturally people have become a bit more relaxed. That is totally understandable but we must really lean into the public health measures again, and as we have done before, together, as a society, we will get people protected and we will get through this.

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