John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to follow on from the theme of the contribution of my colleague, Senator McGahon, namely, Covid. I raised with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, in the Seanad last night the issue of the cohort of 230,000 people who received the Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine, of which I am one and I know Senator McGahon is one. It is generally our age cohort that received that single-dose vaccine. The research now shows that we have limited if any protection from Covid-19 as a result of the waning immunity provided by the vaccine, yet we are told our 30-40 age group must wait in line until we are reached, which will be some time next year, maybe the end of January or February. I have to question the logic of saying the younger age cohort that received that single dose is at less risk of picking up Covid-19 than someone in the older age cohort who does have protection, albeit a declining protection, from the likes of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines. I ask that there is correspondence between the Leader and the Minister on this issue. I know he said it is being reviewed, but this cohort of people, who have pretty much no protection from Covid-19, need to be prioritised. I ask the Leader to take that matter up with the Minister.