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The first Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech will be administered in Ireland on December 30, with an initial shipment of nearly 10,000 doses to the country on St. Stephen’s Day, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed.
Frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents will be vaccinated first, he confirmed. “My focus in the first place is to protect our front-line healthcare workers; going into nursing homes, protecting the most vulnerable because … then we can have a different conversation about openness, ”he said.
The next shipment of “tens of thousands of doses” is due in the first week of January and similar shipments will follow each week thereafter, he said.
The HSE expects front-line healthcare workers and 30,000 nursing home residents to be vaccinated, having received the two necessary doses, by the end of January.
Beyond that, Donnelly said it was intended to have accelerated deployment using a range of vaccines procured by the European Union, working through the priority list drawn up by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (CANI) as quickly as possible.
There were four additional vaccines in the pipeline, although they must get approval from the European Medicines Agency. According to a national plan, the state must purchase 14 million doses of at least five different vaccines during 2021.
The likely starting vaccine range is:
Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine: It is already being administered in the United Kingdom and the United States. More than 128,000 people were given the jab this week in the US, although the FDA is investigating the reasons behind a small number of people showing allergic reactions to the injection. This prompted the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to warn anyone who had a severe reaction to a Covid-19 vaccine not to receive the second dose; the vaccine is already confirmed as safe for the vast majority of people.
Modern vaccines: The EU has ordered an additional 80 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and submitted plans to evaluate the injection for approval in Europe. The EMA will issue its verdict on the conditional marketing authorization on January 6. Once approved, Donnelly confirmed that Ireland would act swiftly to implement that vaccine immediately.
Oxford University-AstraZeneca Vaccine: It is likely to get UK approval this month, with the launch there starting in early 2021. It is understood that Irish health authorities expect it to get EU approval in January. More like a standard vaccine, it will be considerably easier to administer as it does not require very cold storage as is the case with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna injections, which are new mRNA vaccines.
Approval of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to be sought in the first half of 2021 and is currently in phase 3 clinical trials with 45,000 people.
Priority list
After front-line healthcare workers and nursing home residents are vaccinated, people over 70; other health workers who are not in direct contact with the patient, people aged 65 to 69 and other “key workers” will be vaccinated in that order.
This will be followed by people ages 18 to 64 with certain medical conditions; who are residents of long-term care facilities and who live or work in crowded environments.
The next to be immunized will be key workers in essential jobs that cannot avoid a high risk of exposure; people who work in education, people between 55 and 64 years old, other workers in occupations important to the functioning of society and people between 18 and 54 years old.
Young people under the age of 18 and pregnant women are expected to be able to receive the vaccine, as there is some evidence showing “safety and efficacy.” This will be closely monitored as the launch accelerates around the world.
The NIAC is due to issue vaccination guidelines tomorrow for healthcare professionals, and is likely to only recommend that those who have shown a strong allergic reaction not receive a vaccine.
HSE chief Paul Reid welcomed the EMA’s decision to grant a conditional marketing authorization to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine on Monday, enabling the launch of a national vaccination program in Ireland.
“Our teams, staff, experts and health service providers will play a central role in many aspects of the implementation of this national program,” he said.
“While this development is very positive and offers some hope at the end of a very difficult year for many people, it is really important that we all keep in mind that the vaccine is not our first line of defense against Covid-19 for now, nor is it It will be for a while, ”he stressed.
He added: We have seen how quickly an increase in cases can translate into illness, pressure on our hospitals and pressure on Intensive Care Units. For now, everyone in Ireland should focus on maintaining the preventive and protective actions that have become part of how we all work and live. “
The priority list is available on the Government website.
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