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

I wish to express my regrets and to apologise on behalf of the Government and the HSE for the inconvenience faced this morning by people who queued for a third dose and were not able to get it. In the round, the third dose programme is going very well. More than 1 million people in Ireland have received their third dose. I think we are very close to the top of the league table in the European Union for third doses. We are in about fourth place out of 27 countries, but I know that if you are left standing in the cold waiting for a vaccine you do not get, that is pretty cold comfort. There have been IT problems and teething problems and we will get them right, just like we got them right during the first period of the vaccine programme.

I am told that about 900 pharmacies are now involved in the programme.

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