Results 15,981-16,000 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I have not because the contracting relationship in the first instance is with the Commission and in Ireland, the task force is taking the lead on that. AstraZeneca has appointed a more senior person in recent times as the relationship manager with Ireland. May I just make one quick point? I know it is the Deputy's time so I will make it very quickly. Regarding the...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I can confirm that considerable work is going on. It is being run from the Department of Health in connection obviously with NPHET and NIAC. It is looking broadly at the rest of the population. We all know that NIAC initially established a very detailed prioritisation. Now that we know more about the vaccines and their distribution, work is going on to establish what...

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

Stephen Donnelly: -----neither they nor the people they are caring for are currently being prioritised.

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

Stephen Donnelly: It is not really a "Yes" or "No" because right now, what we have are cohorts 1 to 4.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. There are two pieces of good news for pharmacists. One is that the pharmacists themselves are being vaccinated as front-line healthcare staff. The second is that as we move past cohort 4 and start vaccinating, for example, people aged from 65 to 69, the current thinking is that pharmacists will be able to be involved there because it is a lower-complexity and lower-risk...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I saw the claim being made. It does not reflect what was said.

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. Various stories are circulating. One which I believe is real is that Denmark and some other country are looking at a strategic partnership with Israel. However, when we look into them, what we find is that these relate to quarter 4 of this year or possibly into next year. What is important to us is vaccine in the short term. We are not aware of European countries...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I will ask the task force to produce a note. The task force is our lead group on this on behalf of the Government. It is in regular contact with all of the pharma companies. I will ask that a note be sent to the Deputy on the level of contact.

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

Stephen Donnelly: The task force, on behalf of the Government, is in regular contact with those companies.

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

Stephen Donnelly: The task force is chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith and the full membership is available online.

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

Stephen Donnelly: With regard to transparency of supply, we are largely in agreement. The Deputy suggested I provide information in relation to three areas, namely, forecast, delivery and administration. In regard to the administration, we can all accept there is daily information released in that regard. It is available on the tracker App and online. There is full transparency in terms of what is...

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

Stephen Donnelly: How much time do I have?

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Deputy Eoghan Murphy for his questions. As he will be aware, the European Medicines Agency is looking at Sputnik V and is conducting a rolling review. What is normal practice then is that the advance purchase agreements, APAs, can be put in place. For example, we have seven APAs in place, three for authorised vaccines, one for a vaccine we hope will be authorised today and three...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgment of the huge work that is being done, not by any of us here but by the Irish people in sticking with a very hard regimen of measures. It is working. Even with this awful B117 variant and its significant contagion, we are still, week by week, steadily reducing the number of cases. I believe we are now about the fourth lowest in Europe. We just need...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I believe the number of trained vaccinators is at approximately 9,700 right now. The question is which comes first. Do we train up our vaccinators and then ask for as much vaccine as can be produced? That would be a fantastic position to be in and we would train a lot more vaccinators in that scenario. However, what comes first is the supply of vaccine. As we are all...

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

Stephen Donnelly: My thanks to Deputy Shortall. There are more questions there than I will be able to answer in 50 seconds, so let me try to move quickly. The Deputy should have received an answer on Moderna. I have intervened previously to ensure she got answers and I will chase that up. That should not happen. If I give a commitment to any Deputy that he or she will get an answer from me, that should...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing advocacy on this issue. I share his desired end goal, that being, a global and just vaccination programme. It cannot be a vaccine for the West or wealthier countries. As the Deputy rightly stated, it has to be a vaccine for all of humanity. The only question is how to do that. As variants emerge or new diseases arrive and vaccines must be adjusted or...

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

Stephen Donnelly: The figure of 99% is arrived at as follows. The estimate is that there are in excess of 72,000 people over the age of 85 years. They were being vaccinated in several different ways. One was through nursing homes and other long-term residential care facilities, an area that has largely been covered. The second way was through the roll-out in the community. A small number of those aged 85...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his questions. With regard to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for which authorisation is being sought today, I can confirm that we have advance purchased 2.19 million doses. Its great advantage is that it is a single-dose vaccine and so that amount on its own would vaccinate almost half the population. There is very strong procurement in place. However, the...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I will try to respond to the questions in 30 seconds. The fourth cohort will be done both in hospitals and GP clinics. If certain people cannot make either of those trips and are essentially housebound, arrangements will be made accordingly. The report in respect of rapid testing is currently being finalised. NIAC prioritisation is ongoing. It is considering all of the groups that have...