Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I certainly will raise this matter with the Minister for Health, whom I will see today or tomorrow when we discuss the new advice from NPHET. I really welcome the fact that Deputy Devlin used the term "third dose". I really think we should stop using the term "booster dose". It is increasingly clear that this is a three-course primary vaccination, as is the case with many other vaccines. The use of the word "booster" implies it is in some way discretionary. Getting the third dose does not restore immunity to the level it was at after getting the second dose; it actually brings it to a higher level again. The early indication from Israel and elsewhere is that it is more durable and wanes more slowly. A total of 800,000 people have had their third dose. We expect to get to more than 1 million within the next week or so. I really encourage people to take up the offer of the third dose and see it as the third dose they need to get to protect them against this virus and not as a booster that is discretionary.

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