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There are growing hopes that the first Covid-19 vaccine could be administered in Ireland before the end of the month after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gives its approval.
According to the president of the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations, the EMA will make a decision on December 29 “at the latest” and that the health authorities here are “preparing” to administer the first puncture.
Talking with him Irish independent On the Covid-19 vaccine strategy, Professor Karina Butler said plans for implementation are well advanced.
“They are preparing a lot,” he said.
“The freezers are all here. The planning is done. Dr. Brian McCraith’s logistics group (within the Covid-19 Vaccine Task Force) has been working very hard on all of that.
“There are huge logistical challenges with implementation that people are working very hard to overcome and I am confident that they will be. This is a huge company. There will be failures and it is important to take that into account. We are all humans. It would be great if it went smoothly, but I doubt that’s the case. “
Professor Butler, who in her role on the National Advisory Committee participated in the development of the priority list for access to the vaccine, said she had no role in logistics, but that “it could be assumed that the first injections did not They will be in the GPs. Offices “.
She added: “They can be in hospitals or centralized sites, similar to what happened in the North.”
In a move similar to the UK’s, Ireland will prioritize the elderly and vulnerable when deciding who will get vaccinated first.
Those over the age of 65 in long-term care will be the first to be punctured, along with front-line healthcare workers with direct patient contact.
These people will be followed by those over the age of 70, starting with those aged 85 and over.
Professor Butler said she was aware of the fact that many people in nursing homes can be reluctant to take the beatings even after they are given the green light to be administered here.
“I think the chances are high (that people in nursing homes are not vaccinated),” Professor Butler told the Irish independent.
“I think the biggest challenge we will face will not be the group of anti-vaccines who are generally against all the principles of vaccines and who are fixed in their beliefs.
“I think the big challenge is that there is a larger group of people who are very reasonable and want to know if this will be safe, is it a good thing to do?”
He said it’s “very reasonable that people feel like the pace of this has been a little bit faster than anything else before.”
“I think our challenge is to be able to get information out to people in a way that they understand, answer their questions so they can reassess their concerns and decide if it’s okay for me or whatever decision they make.”
Professor Butler said that no vaccine has been subjected to such scrutiny and that people should take comfort in the fact that the EMA, which is currently out on the approval of the vaccine, has not been rushed in its analysis.
“Yes, this has been faster than any vaccine that has been developed so far, but much of that speed has not been related to safety,” said Professor Butler.
“They have tried to end all the normal slowness of the procedures. From the beginning trying to write protocols, to requesting funding, getting staff, hiring people. We are talking about huge judgments, 30,000 or 40,000 and Janssen’s is 60,000.
“I’ve been involved in recruiting for clinical trials (in the past) and it could have taken us two or three years to recruit 200 people. All that has been arranged. This whole process has accelerated. “
The “end goal” of health experts is to make the vaccine available to as many people as possible.
How long it takes to reach an acceptable level of immunity will depend on two things: the vaccine itself and the absorption.
Professor Butler said: “First of all, it will depend on the problems related to the vaccine, such as whether the vaccine will only protect the person to whom it is given or whether it will have additional benefits in preventing transmission.
“By far the biggest influence on this is the absorption of the vaccine. Unless people show up, both for themselves and altruistically for the good of the country, well, we’ll never get to the levels we need. “
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