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The bureaucracy to obtain the informed consent of people given the Covid-19 vaccine is one of the reasons why it was not implemented immediately after the delivery of the first batch to Ireland.
The first 10,000 doses of vaccine arrived in Ireland on Saturday, but the first patients will not receive them until tomorrow, and then only a small amount.
Several European countries began their vaccination programs yesterday.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly last night rejected claims that this amounted to a delay here, insisting that it be brought forward one day.
The cabinet will discuss the Covid-19 situation, including current restrictions, this afternoon amid a worrying spike in cases in recent days.
Four more people have died and 744 new cases were reported yesterday. That’s less than the 1,296 new cases reported Saturday.
But medical director Dr. Tony Holohan warned last night of a “worsening trajectory of the disease” and said he expects higher numbers to be recorded when more people get tested after Christmas.
Meanwhile, HSE chief Paul Reid told RTÉ that vaccinations will start tomorrow. A small number will be administered at Beaumont, St James, Cork and Galway University Hospitals.
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Dr. Rita Doyle welcomed the change in implementation plan
He said Ireland wants to “get this right” and there is a “complex consent process” in relation to older and vulnerable people.
In the north, where the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine rollout began before Christmas, GP surgeries have already started receiving a second vaccine from AstraZeneca. The UK regulatory body is expected to approve its use in the coming days and GPs are drawing up lists of their patients over 80 who will receive it first.
the Irish independent understands that completing the informed consent process was one of the reasons why the implementation of the Pfizer vaccine did not begin immediately.
There is concern in healthcare circles about the highly litigious medical legal environment in Ireland in recent years.
Vaccines are rigorously tested and side effects are usually mild. The EU and other jurisdictions that have approved the Covid-19 jab have insisted that it meets safety standards.
Dr. Rita Doyle, president of the Medical Council, had expressed her dissatisfaction with the timing of the launch on Twitter on St. Stephen’s Day and asked, “Why are we waiting four days to start vaccines?” adding “This is an emergency”.
Last night he said he was grateful for the change to the implementation plan, and that vaccines would start tomorrow instead of Wednesday.
“I am a family doctor. Like the doctors in this country, in fact, like all of us, I am frustrated with this virus.
“It frustrates me that the numbers are increasing again at an alarming rate,” he said.
But he said this was “being replaced by hope” now that the coups will start tomorrow.
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon took to social media to claim: “There is a nagging lack of ambition or self-confidence surrounding our vaccination program.” He said vaccines have started in other parts of Europe, while “we have two boxes transported on a forklift with great fanfare in a warehouse for four days.”
Donnelly last night argued that such criticism was “unfounded.”
He told the Independent of Ireland: “We received the delivery on the 26th. We will be vaccinating on the 29th, so the question I would ask again is whether people suggest that we not follow the advice of the experts. Are you suggesting that we do not ensure that informed consent is correct? We are clinically targeted. We have to do this right. ”
Donnelly said staff is being trained and the informed consent process is being implemented.
He added that a lot of work has been done to ensure that the informed consent process is “appropriate” and “legally sound.” On the other hand, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar admitted that Ireland is slower in the deployment of the vaccine than other countries, but promised that “we will catch up.”
He said that about 40,000 doses will arrive each week starting in January and that other vaccines will also be available.
He said the Cabinet will review the decision to allow non-essential retailers to remain open following a recommendation from the National Public Health Emergency Team that they should be closed.
Meanwhile, the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL), the nation’s largest medical virology laboratory, closed on Christmas Day and will reopen tomorrow.
An ‘on call’ service has been in operation since December 25, but requests for Covid-19 results cannot be serviced during the four-day shutdown period.
The lab will also be closed for three days from January 1 to January 3. The HSE said that the NVRL typically processes about 700 swabs per day.
In a statement, the HSE said: “The HSE processes between 10,000 and 20,000 tests per day based on demand.
NVRLs were not required from Friday the 25th to Tuesday the 29th.
“This does not have a negative impact on the test responses, as we are still working within our available capacity.”
Irish independent
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