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People between the ages of 16 and 69 who are at very high risk of developing severe Covid-19 have moved up the list in the government’s vaccine allocation strategy.
The strategy, which had originally been criticized by patient advocacy groups, has now been updated by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly after NPHET endorsed the recommendations of the National Immunization Advisory Council.
The new implementation strategy means that the order in which people will receive the vaccine has changed.
People 65 and older living in long-term care facilities and front-line healthcare workers have already been vaccinated in the first two stages of the strategy announced on December 8 last year.
In stage three, Ireland is currently vaccinating people aged 70 and over, starting with those aged 85 and over.
The interim vaccine groups that were announced in December would have seen other healthcare workers vaccinated next, followed by people aged 65 to 69, key workers, and then people aged 18 to 64 with certain medical conditions.
However, the updated strategy changes vaccine allocation at these stages.
The new fourth stage of the rollout, which takes effect after everyone over the age of 70 is vaccinated, will see the vaccines reach people aged 16 and 69 who are considered to be at very high risk of developing severe Covid-19.
This includes people in this age group who are severely immunosuppressed, obese above a certain BMI, have uncontrolled diabetes, are undergoing certain cancer treatments, and / or are living with certain chronic diseases.
It also includes people between the ages of 16 and 69 with certain chronic neurological diseases, certain inherited metabolic diseases, Down syndrome, and sickle cell anemia.
The government criteria for this cohort are explained in the table below.
The next group, Cohort 5, includes people between the ages of 65 and 69 who are at high risk for severe Covid-19 disease due to other underlying illnesses such as chronic heart disease, severe asthma, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder.
The criteria for this cohort, which presents the same conditions as cohort 7, are explained in this table.
Once people aged 65 to 69 have been vaccinated with the above conditions, the Government’s strategy will focus on cohort 6.
This includes anyone between the ages of 65 and 69, other healthcare workers not in direct contact with patients, and workers essential to the vaccination program.
People in this group will be vaccinated in parallel, as described in the table below.
The implementation strategy will then focus on people aged 16 to 64 who have the same conditions as those aged 65 to 69 who were vaccinated in cohort 5.
Minister Stephen Donnelly said the overall goal of the strategy remains the same.
“We continue to vaccinate those who are most likely to suffer serious illness and, sadly, death, as a result of contracting Covid-19,” he said.
“The changes we are making are based on the latest clinical and medical advice that those we are moving up the list would suffer the worst outcomes if they had the disease,” he added.
The Health Department said more national and international evidence is available to provide a more detailed analysis of which conditions can increase the risk of developing serious illness or death.
Medical conditions and the magnitude of the risk they pose will continue to be monitored and reviewed periodically.
“Speeding up the vaccination of those with certain pre-existing conditions is consistent with the advice given to Member States by the ECDC,” said Minister Donnelly.
The NIAC has also recommended that while any of the three currently licensed vaccines can be administered to adults aged 16 to 69 years, mRNA vaccines should preferably be administered to very high or high risk persons aged 16 to 69 who have certain medical conditions that can limit your immune response to the vaccine.
Preferential selection of an mRNA vaccine should not result in a vaccine delay of more than 3 weeks, as any benefit of using a more effective vaccine may be lost.
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