Results 14,741-14,760 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: With regard to the gap between doses, there are different gaps. The clinical advice for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is 28 days. With Pfizer, there was a range of between 21 and 28 days and the HSE has chosen 28. The gap between the first and second doses for all age groups is 28 days for that vaccine. AstraZeneca is different. For those above the age of 65, the advice is to leave a...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, but there is an added complication in that the clinical trial data on under 18s are not back yet.

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: How long do I have?

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Absolutely. I thank all three Deputies for their questions. On Deputy Niamh Smyth's questions, paramedics are included in the first group and are being vaccinated now as front-line healthcare workers. All three Deputies asked about people with underlying conditions. As we discussed earlier, very detailed work is being done by the national immunisation advisory committee to look at that...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The sentiments expressed by the Deputy are shared across the House. These staff provide critical services. I will ask my officials to email to the Deputy a link to the HSE's document published on 5 February, which contains guidelines for sequencing and registration for healthcare workers and seeks to answer the questions the Deputy has raised. For example, sequence group 2d relates to...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: We need a global solution to this issue for all sorts of reasons. We need it for ethical and moral reasons. We also need it for reasons of self-interest. There is no point in Ireland fully vaccinating its people when we live in a globalised world. We need a global solution. Given that we need a global solution for ethical and moral reasons and for our own self-interest, is the solution...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputies for their questions. The question on rapid testing is a very good and pertinent one. I have raised with the Commission and the other health ministers that there should be a centralised clearing house and some sort of co-ordination in terms of the ability to validate and then deploy antigen testing and also to share information across the EU. I can say to the Deputy...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will ask that the Deputy is sent a link to the relevant paper. It was issued on 5 February to answer exactly these kinds of reasonable questions. This circular gives a description of who is included in cohort 2, that is, front-line healthcare workers. Group 2(g) covers all other healthcare workers without direct patient care but who are working in a healthcare facility with the potential...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I have asked the Department to do a detailed review of cohort 7, which includes those with underlying health conditions. The current size of that cohort is especially large because it is an estimate of everyone in the country with an underlying condition. The view expressed consistently in the House - it is one I share - is that there is a smaller group within that cohort who are...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: My thanks to the Deputy for her question. There is nothing I would like more - there is nothing any of us would like more - than to have all of the supply here now, because then we could vaccinate all the people the Deputy is talking about at the same time. That is what we would like to be able to do. However, because of the limited supplies, at least in the initial months, we need...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I am not sure there was a question but if there was I am more than happy to pick it up. It was more of a statement, if that is fair.

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: In response to Deputy O'Dowd, I will have to take a look at the report he referenced about the 800 people. It does not sound like something that should have happened but without being able to look at the specifics, it is very hard for me to comment. Certainly, the isolated instances we have discussed in the House previously in respect of family members were not acceptable and under no...

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy asked if we are vaccinating those who have had Covid-19 in order and the answer is, "Yes". As he and I have talked about previously, there is interesting evidence and data from the UK, which the Deputy referenced. I have requested that the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, comes back to me with a view on that but the current position is regardless of whether or not...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: An agreement was reached by parties at the Workplace Relations Commission in October 2018, in relation to a process of pay restoration for staff employed in section 39 organisations. Pay restoration commenced in 50 pilot agencies in April 2019 with an annual pay increase of up to €1,000. Any outstanding balance would be paid in two equal amounts in 2020 and 2021, if due. The...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy sets out a provisional list of groups for vaccination. The Strategy was developed by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and the Department of Health, endorsed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), and approved by Government on 8 December 2020. Vaccine allocation is a matter for the Department of Health and further...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Tests (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: In Ireland, the National Testing Strategy for COVID-19 involves testing people who meet the case definition (people with symptoms), their identified close contacts, and established serial testing programmes including residential care facilities, schools and food production facilities, and following the completion of a Public Health Risk Assessment. The National Testing Strategy is directed by...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Epilepsy Incidence (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy sets out a provisional list of groups for vaccination. The Strategy was developed by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and my Department , endorsed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), and approved by Government on 8 December 2020. Vaccine allocation is a matter for my Department and further information is available...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (11 Feb 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy sets out a provisional list of groups for vaccination. The Strategy was developed by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and my Department, endorsed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), and approved by Government on 8 December 2020. Vaccine allocation is a matter for my Department and further information is available...