Seanad debates

Tuesday, 26 January 2021

Covid-19 Vaccination Programme: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I am representing the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly.

The World Health Organization declared the prevalence of Covid-19 to be a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020. Although we are now nearly a year on from that, I know that for many it now feels that it has been a lifetime. Since that day we have found ourselves living very different lives from those we would previously have expected or hoped for. We now find ourselves living what would once have seemed a surreal existence where the things we took for granted are the things that put our loved ones at risk.However, throughout all of this we have found the best of ourselves and dogged determination, and we have worked tirelessly to care for and protect the lives of others. Public and private sectors have collaborated and innovated with a view to finding ways to save lives.

In the space of that year, we now have vaccines that are safe and effective. Two have already been approved for use in Europe and more vaccines are on the way. As a consequences, there is hope that we may be seeing the beginning of the end of this pandemic.

Acting on behalf of member states, the European Commission has negotiated six advance purchase agreements with a range of vaccine suppliers to date. The EU emergency support instrument has been leveraged to provide upfront funding to facilitate negotiations, secure production and lower costs to member states. The vaccines that have been approved are produced by Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna. They have been reviewed by the European Medicines Agency which has provided significant assurance that they are safe and effective. These vaccines are currently being administered as part of Ireland's vaccination programme. A third vaccine supplier, AstraZeneca, recently submitted its application for approval to the European Medicines Agency and may receive approval from the Commission as early as this coming Friday.

Issues have arisen, however, with regard to the vaccine supply. Reduction in the quantity of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine supplied across the EU for one week has proved challenging. These reductions in supply were required to allow the company to make necessary changes to expand its production. Pfizer BioNTech has provided assurances that this reduction will be resolved speedily.

Of more significant concern is the recent indication that AstraZeneca will not be available to meet its initial delivery commitments once it has received market authorisation. It is estimated that the deliveries in February will be at the lower end of what was anticipated and there will be further significant impact in March. The Department of Health is monitoring this changing situation and is continually engaging with the Commission and the company. I and the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, are very concerned that this supply issue was only communicated to the member states just a week before the scheduled authorisation was to be given for the vaccine.

Subject to the regulatory approval and delivery of vaccines, the vaccination of the third group in the Government's vaccination allocation strategy, the over-70s, will start next month. It will begin with the older of those, aged 85 and other, followed by those aged between 80 and 84, before progressing to those aged 75 to 79 and 70 to 74. It is planned that those vaccines will be administered by GPs in their surgeries and the HSE is preparing a public information campaign and will ensure that everyone knows in advance when, where and how to access their vaccine.

As of 24 January, 143,000 doses of vaccine have been administered to healthcare workers and residents in long-term care facilities. Importantly, the HSE began administration of the second dose of the vaccine last week. These will be the first cohort of persons to be fully vaccinated under the programme and the progress shown is a credit to all involved. I extend many thanks to the HSE and its staff for the hard work and dedication they have shown.

Plans are being progressed to ensure vaccines can be delivered at a pace as delivery volumes increase significantly over the coming weeks. This scale-up is being progressed through partnership with GPs and pharmacists and, ultimately, delivered through mass vaccination centres. To facilitate the roll-out of this programme, I am pleased to note that the mass vaccination of 1,800 GPs recently took place in three locations across Galway, Dublin and Laois. In addition, planning is ongoing to mobilise further mass vaccination centres soon to meet the expected increase in supply. Some adjustments to the original target doses being administered by March may be necessary to take into account AstraZeneca's recent announcement. It is important that everybody is aware how dynamic the situation is with regard to the supply chains and that Ireland has to employ an agile plan to react to such changes. The Minister for Health previously stated that he expected all adult residents to be vaccinated by September and that remains our target. However, as the Minister stressed, that is contingent on existing commitments on the approval, supply and delivery of vaccines.There are important caveats that have sometimes been missed in the national discourse. We want to give people as much clarity as we can but we must be honest about the many variables and challenges with which we are grappling. It is important to note that more research on the vaccination of children is needed. This research is ongoing. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been approved for those over the age of 16 while Moderna has been approved for those over 18 years of age. As stated, under the Government's allocation strategy, children will be vaccinated if the evidence demonstrates safety and efficiency. This is standard practice. The Government will continue to monitor and adapt its plans as data emerge.

A key challenge to be addressed as the vaccine roll-out accelerates is the presence of Covid-19 in an increasing number of care facilities. This will require follow-up vaccination visits after the initial roll-out phase. Such visits are planned to take place at the earliest opportunity.

While everyone will be entitled to vaccination under the programme, it is not possible to vaccinate everyone simultaneously. The Covid-19 vaccine allocation strategy sets out a provisional list of groups for vaccination. This was endorsed by NPHET and approved by the Government on 8 December 2020. This strategy was developed by the national immunisation advisory committee and the Department of Health. Given that limited amounts of vaccine will be available initially, it will take some time for all to receive vaccines. This necessitates an allocation strategy to ensure that those most at risk of death or serious illness receive the vaccine first. To date, more than 4,800 HSE staff have received training and now work as vaccinators. The timing of vaccination will be subject to vaccine supply, logistics and the characteristics of each vaccine. The priority is to vaccinate and protect the most vulnerable among us first, and to use vaccines directly to save lives, reduce serious illness and protect our healthcare workers.

The roll-out of the largest vaccination programme ever seen in Ireland gives rise to a set of complex and difficult challenges, some of which have yet to be resolved. The promise of a return to some sort of normality which the vaccines represent gives rise to public expectation that cannot be met in the short term. The existence and roll-out of the programme, however, undoubtedly represents a good news story. In the space of less than a year, we have also seen the benefits of unprecedented collaboration between the public and the private spheres, between the initial spur of invention and the channelling of investment to foster it. The end result is that we now have vaccines, which are currently being administered. They will continue to be administered for free and will be available to all.

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