Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein)
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1324. To ask the Minister for Health if he plans to roll out Covid vaccines to children under five years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [63827/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland's COVID-19 vaccination programme is based on the principles of safety, effectiveness and fairness, with the objective of reducing severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths from COVID-19 infection.

The immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). The NIAC makes recommendations on vaccination policy to the Department of Health based on the prevalence of the relevant disease in Ireland and international best practices in relation to immunisation.

Following the recommendation for the use of vaccines against COVID-19 by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and authorisation for use by the European Commission, the NIAC develops guidance for their use in Ireland which is contained in the Immunisation Guidelines for Ireland. These guidelines are continuously updated and include guidance on all new vaccines as they are approved for use in Ireland.

You can view the updated guidelines here:

www.hse.ie/eng/health/immunisation/hcpinfo/guidelines/covid19.pdf

The NIAC recently made recommendations on authorising mRNA vaccination for those aged 6 months to 4 years. These recommendations have been endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and myself.

The HSE is now in the process of operationalising these recommendations and it is expected that the rollout will commence in the coming weeks.