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PREPARATIONS FOR A Covid-19 vaccine in Ireland are moving rapidly, but a vaccine launch in December is “unlikely,” according to the Health Minister.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said a vaccine should be available in Ireland “very soon”, but not until the new year.
Two of the vaccines Ireland has signed up for, those from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstroZeneca, are seeking marketing authorization in the coming weeks.
Speaking at On the Record in Newstalk, Donnelly said that after the authorization process, there is “additional work that needs to be done” but that we could potentially be looking at a vaccine “early in the new year.”
Donnelly said that Professor Brian MacCraith, chair of the Vaccine Task Force, and his team are “very quickly rolling out the distribution needed for that.”
“December is unlikely, to be honest, but very soon,” Donnelly said.
“It’s very comforting because if we go back a few months, the experts were saying it would be the middle of next year, potentially the end of next year, or actually three or four years before we can see these things,” he said. said.
“Ireland currently has four registered vaccines, and on Tuesday I will submit a memorandum to the government on a fifth,” he said.
Donnelly said that Ireland has pre-purchased several million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
When discussing the adoption of a vaccine, Donnelly said there has been no discussion in the government to make any vaccine mandatory.
“Several EU countries have introduced laws on compulsory vaccination. We haven’t, and I can tell you that there hasn’t been any talk at the government level about doing that, “Donnelly said.
“My preference is for it to be a volunteer,” he said.
“We just rolled out the largest flu vaccination program in the history of the state, and in fact, if we could get our hands on more flu shots, people would be looking to take it, and there’s also been a strong update on the HPV vaccine. “
“There is this anti-vaccine movement – a lot of what I have seen is misinformation and it is very dangerous, but I think the vast majority of people see it for what it is and I think people are very willing to take the vaccine when it comes out. “, said.
The strategy for the deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine will be presented to the government before December 11.
The vaccine working group is considering how to administer the vaccine in Ireland.
You are looking at who will administer the vaccine, how it will be distributed, and which groups should be able to take advantage of it first.
As Ireland and Northern Ireland review restrictions ahead of Christmas, a discussion has sparked about collaboration between the two jurisdictions to monitor travel and quarantine requirements.
Donnelly said that what Northern Ireland is looking for is that “when people land, whether in Belfast, Dublin or Cork or wherever, the electronic locator data will be shared, because obviously people move around the island.”
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“They are willing to do it and the legal advice they have for their jurisdiction is that they can. Unfortunately, the legal advice we have from the attorney general in our jurisdiction is that it is not possible, ”said Donnelly.
“There is a potential route through it, and that is that the EU is now implementing an electronic locator form across the EU. We’re going to subscribe to that, now obviously Northern Ireland as part of the UK may not be, but it could be a useful way, “he said.
“Certainly from Ireland’s perspective and from my perspective, the more common our approach to the island, the better.”
Level five restrictions will be lifted on Tuesday when Ireland moves to a modified version of level three.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland entered a two-week “circuit breaker” lockdown on Friday, as most businesses shut down in a move to limit the spread of the virus before Christmas.
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