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

Okay. They are currently dealing with complaints from the public about the news that went out. There is a need for clarification on this. There is no justification for making a distinction between what GPs can do and what pharmacists can do. This needs to be addressed urgently. These are, of course, the Johnson & Johnson people in the main, who are now highly susceptible because of the waning immunity.

The second issue I want to raise, and which I want the Minister of State to bring to the attention of the Minister along with the other one, is that there is no official record of boosters. This is going to raise huge problems over Christmas and in the new year. Other European countries are moving to require evidence of the booster. In Austria, for example, to where many Irish people will travel over the Christmas break, people must have a booster and evidence of the booster, but people currently do not have that. People who have had Johnson & Johnson have no evidence of it. Equally, people who had their vaccines early in the year, such as healthcare workers, have no evidence. The situation is similar in France. This has to be dealt with quickly.

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