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TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has told a Fianna Fáil TD meeting that a small volume of Covid-19 vaccines could be available this month in Ireland.
Martin noted that the number of Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland is “very high” and that there has been a serious impact on the hospital system there.
He said that people have firmly adhered to the Covid-19 guidelines and that “we must continue to protect the elderly and vulnerable during this Christmas period.”
Martin told TDs that a small volume of the Covid-19 vaccine could be available in December.
The government’s high-level working group on vaccination against Covid-19 has been in discussions with several third-level institutions about the use of their facilities for implementation.
The chair of the task force, Professor Brian MacCraith, told the Oireachtas health committee today that the challenge of implementing the vaccine is “unmatched here and around the world.”
Speaking today, Professor MacCraith confirmed that the HSE team is considering at least 15 of these mass vaccination centers at this time.
“The exact details of the number of personnel that the vaccination center will require are still being worked out at this time.”
He said he had had discussions with Wicklow IT, NUI Galway, the University of Limerick and University College Cork about the use of their facilities for vaccines.
Vaccination deployment
Professor MacCraith said it would be difficult to give a timeline for how many people will be vaccinated at different stages in the next year.
However, up to 5,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine are expected to arrive in Ireland before the end of the month.
The model carried out by the task force has indicated that this could mean that around 78,000 employees and residents in care centers could be vaccinated in mid to late February.
Professor MacCraith said: “It is not possible to have absolute certainty on these matters.
“Let me give you an example where we are working on various models: If you take the residential care facilities that are in the top cohort there, then we know, and there are just under 600 such facilities, roughly in number – and close to 78,000 between residents and staff.
“If you look at those numbers and look at the initial cohort of vaccinators, you can start to think that that cohort might complete their vaccinations in mid to late February, for example.”
However, Professor MacCraith cautioned that this was not yet a fact and that it would depend on how quickly the vaccine reaches Ireland.
“The dates and numbers are not mentioned because it is simply, at this stage, impossible, to give you certainty about these,” he said.
Leo Leo Varadkar
Source: Photograph by Julien Behal via RollingNews.ie
At the Fine Gael party parliamentary meeting tonight, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that it will be the second quarter of 2021 when people start to see the differences with the launch of the vaccine.
With vaccines to be given in two doses, each one month apart, only after the second vaccine will people begin to see benefits, the meeting was heard.
Varadkar said there is a real possibility that the vaccine could begin rolling out before the New Year, with nursing home residents and healthcare workers contacting patients the first to receive it.
A motion, tabled by Fine Gael Health Spokesperson Colm Burke, passed unanimously at the meeting.
The motion read: “May the Fine Gael party welcome the recent positive news about Covid-19 vaccines, recognize the benefits of high levels of vaccination to protect everyone, commit to working with healthcare professionals to promote adoption. of Covid-19 vaccines, please provide accurate information and challenge misinformation. ”
Disinformation
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronan Glynn said conversations have been held with social media companies like Twitter and Facebook about ways to combat vaccine-related misinformation.
However, she said it was important not to give the impression that most people hesitate to get vaccinated.
“Obviously, we are concerned about the issue of misinformation and the extent to which that will influence people’s intention to get vaccinated,” he said.
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“It is important that we do not give a perception that is the opinion of the majority.
“We know that 70-80% of people in Ireland will definitely or probably get this vaccine when it is offered to them.
“So perhaps instead of focusing on vaccine vacillation per se, what we should do is try to promote even better levels of vaccine confidence.”
Dr. Glynn said that an effective communication strategy would be one of the key tools necessary for a successful implementation strategy.
Includes reports from the Press Association
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