Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank colleagues for their contributions and time. I always find debates in the Seanad really valuable, useful, thought-provoking, challenging and important, so I thank Senators as always for their time. I will try to address the various issues raised as best I can and I apologise if I miss some of them.

Senators asked about progress on the Delta wave. We are dealing with two different but related matters, that is, a Delta wave, which we have a plan in place to deal with, and the new variant, for which various actions are being taken. As has been pointed out, the latest information we have, which we received earlier this week from Professor Nolan's team, plotted what is happening versus the projections we were given a few weeks ago. As colleagues will be aware, we were given no-change future possibilities, with an optimistic and a pessimistic scenario. This was where we saw the issue that was most concerning to me, that is, that by Christmas week, we faced a range of just-Covid ICU patients of between 200 and 450. The implications of that for patients and the healthcare system are profound, so we acted and took various steps.

Probably the most important step was a message, which everyone in this House got behind, to say to people we had to reduce our social contacts, stick with the basic measures and use masks and the things we know work. Clearly, people have changed their behaviour, as they always do. I again acknowledge the incredible response from people. Individuals, families and communities throughout the country have adjusted their behaviour and it has had the desired effect of pushing back down the virus. Our case numbers now are significantly below what was likely to happen if there had been no policy change.

More encouraging than that again are the figures for hospitalisations and ICU admissions versus what was likely to happen if nothing changed. Here we can really see the impact of the booster programme, a subject I will return to given various colleagues have sought more detail on it. We are seeing a really important lower profile of hospitalisations and ICU admissions for Covid versus what it would be if nothing had happened. A combination of the booster programme, which is moving at pace, and, just as important, people acting in a safe manner to keep themselves and their communities and families safe has worked very well.

Many other measures are in place, as we are all aware. These are: PCR testing and contact tracing; antigen testing, which I will return to shortly; the Covid pass, which we have extended; the winter plan; the flu vaccine; the nursing home measures; the working-from-home measure; the midnight closing in the hospitality sector; household close contacts staying at home for five days and being sent antigen tests; and antivirals, which were referenced and which, while they have not yet been deployed, we are ensuring will be deployed here as soon as they are ready. All these measures are working.

It is human instinct for us, including Members and the public, to focus on the bits that are not working. That is right and proper and, obviously, there must always be challenge. It is important, however, not to lose sight of the fact the overall approach, this national effort from people throughout our nation, the Oireachtas, the Government, the HSE and industry, is working. It is important people know their efforts are bearing fruit and, ultimately, will save many lives, in the context both of Covid and of not having to cancel non-Covid care at a level that otherwise would be required. In summary, when it comes to the Delta wave, the plan is working, and again, it is a national effort. I am not trying to claim credit for the Government here. As always, this is a national effort and it has, broadly, been a cross-party effort.

A really important message for us all to get out, and I thank all the Senators who raised it, is that everyone should get vaccinated or boosted. I put together some figures for the debate. Right now, more than half of hospitalisations and more than 60% of ICU admissions in respect of Covid are unvaccinated. If people, therefore, choose at this point to be unvaccinated, they are putting themselves and the people around them at risk. It is taking up an awful lot of capacity within the system that otherwise would be used for other patients to get them the surgery and the procedures they need. It is important we do not enter a blame game; that is not what this is about. We need to try to reach out to these people to say vaccination really matters to protect them, other people, healthcare workers and our healthcare resource.

Another figure I thought was quite interesting is that currently, about two thirds of Covid hospitalisations and ICU patients are under 45 years of age. It is important to bear that in mind, given there is an almost 100% vaccination rate among the higher age groups and that falls off among younger groups. In fairness to younger people, the figure is nonetheless between 80% and 89% among the late teens and 20-somethings, still very high by international standards, but it is interesting that two thirds of Covid patients in hospital, including in ICU, are now under 45 years of age. That is an important message.

The most important message the public health experts are always trying to get out to all of us is that if one is symptomatic, stay at home and get a PCR test. I acknowledge there are delays. We would like to get everyone booked in the next day but sometimes it is taking two days or, in some cases, three. A total of 80% of self-referrals are being seen the next day. We would love that figure to be 100% but the vast majority are being seen the next day. In the case of priority referrals, which are from a GP or as a close contact, 97% of them happen within 24 hours. We always want to make it better and better but the core message is that if one is symptomatic, stay at home and get a PCR test. If one is going out, layer up with protection, that is, masks, distancing, ventilation, hand hygiene and so forth. That makes a significant difference. I referred earlier to some new research that shows how effective these simple and basic measures are.

On the booster programme, I am delighted to be able to share that more than 800,000 doses have been administered, between the immuno-compromised, who received third doses, and the booster doses. A total of 210,000 of them were administered in the past seven days and we are moving at speed. The initial focus, as Senators will be aware and I think will be bought in to, has been on everyone over the age of 60, those with underlying conditions, those with weakened immune systems and our healthcare workers.