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The Covid-19 story changes almost every hour, not unlike Irish weather.
For everyone, the pace of developments is impressive, and that includes the media. There has never been a story like this, and we all hope there never will be again.
Distinguishing what is important and what is not, from the cacophony of voices and statistics, is a constant challenge. The media have a key role in this.
From an early age I wanted to be a journalist. It puts you in touch with people’s lives, often in a very personal way, and the issues that should matter in society.
There has never been a story like the coronavirus. The news is relentless. This pandemic has penetrated deep into the fabric of Ireland and into people’s lives.
A big part of a journalist’s job is to go out of his way to witness for people. The task is to be the first to know about the latest developments, to fairly reflect what is happening and to try to interpret what matters most.
At RTÉ News, there is also a statutory requirement, under Article 39 (1) of the 2009 Broadcasting Act, to be objective and impartial in producing news. My job, therefore, is to report objectively on what is happening, but I do not express a personal opinion.
Given the nature of Covid-19 and how it has affected everyone for over a year, every person in Ireland has a perspective of where we are and how we got here.
Social media is awash with opinions about what has worked, what has not, and who is considered to be at fault. The opinion of experts, politicians and ordinary people also reflects this mixture of opinions.
Since the beginning of the pandemic and especially as it moved into a third wave, I have received many emails, messages and posts on social media about how it is affecting people’s lives and various opinions on NPHET, the HSE, the Minister of Health, the Government and other key actors.
The job is not to take sides, but to report exactly what is happening, as well as ask the pertinent questions. It is up to the individual reader, listener or viewer to make a decision, based on everything they have heard.
All journalists who attend NPHET media briefings twice a week ask important questions. Due to the amount of media and the limited duration of the briefing, for security reasons, about three questions per journalist is generally possible. The public can also view the full reports and hear what is being said.
The journalists I meet in my work at Covid are diligent. The coverage in RTÉ News is 24 hours, on television, radio, online and social networks. In a matter of hours, history can change and the speed of developments is astonishing.
An example of this was the news last Sunday morning about the pause of the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Ireland and elsewhere.
By Thursday, the European Medicines Agency had determined that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots. This means that thousands of front-line healthcare workers and people at very high risk can be re-vaccinated, which is good news.
The Covid-19 story affects everyone. Like the virus, no one is immune to the history of the pandemic. Now it is woven into our daily life. We eat it, sleep and breathe it. There is no escape. There will come a day when it won’t be like that, but for now we have to face it as best we can.
The latest opinion from NPHET is that the number of daily cases and other indicators of the disease have stagnated or stagnant. The marginal changes could spark another wave. In mid-January, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that 700,000 people should be vaccinated by the end of this month. Certainly, by the end of March, 700,000 total doses will have been administered. But it is not clear at this time if 700,000 people will have received their first dose by then.
When we talk about vaccination, it is important to distinguish between the numbers of the first and the second dose because only those who have received the second dose can be considered fully vaccinated.
We all look forward to the time when we emerge from our coronavirus hideout and can look at the world with new eyes. By now we are all stuck on a roller coaster and it has been the time of our lives, but in the worst way imaginable.
Most of us never thought we’d see a second St. Patrick’s Day shut up. But now that it has passed, we look forward to summer, brighter days, and hopefully more freedom.
The government’s commitment, which depends on vaccine deliveries, is that one million people are vaccinated in April, May and June. So, by June, the vast majority of people should have received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Many should have received a second dose and full vaccination by then, given that by the end of last week, more than 620,000 people had received at least one dose of the vaccine.
So by summer, Ireland should look and feel like a different place. The number of cases in the hospital and in the ICU should be quite low and the number of deaths should also be very low. At that time, the daily case numbers should be perhaps in low two-digit numbers.
That’s what it looks like from this current perspective. But there is still a lot of uncertainty. The concern is that the current number of daily cases is still very high, around 489 per day. And we are now 12 weeks away from this third lockdown, with a government review looming shortly.
The biggest task facing the Government is the rapid and efficient implementation of vaccination, especially when the volume of vaccine supplies is reliable.
As of the end of last week, Ireland had received 758,490 doses of vaccines. As of last Sunday we had administered 617,050 of these doses. The rest were being held in reserve for the second doses or were to be administered last week. The Department of Health says that 95% of vaccinations are given to people within seven days of arrival in Ireland.
Ireland obtains a certain proportion of the vaccines supplied to the European Commission, under its agreements with suppliers. The Commission said this week that Pfizer and Moderna are honoring its side but AstraZeneca is not. In this crisis, AstraZeneca’s reputation has suffered greatly.
The company promised Europe 90 million doses of its vaccine in the first quarter of the year, but will only have delivered 30 million. It had promised 180 million doses for the second quarter, but will only have delivered 70 million, the Commission said this week.
Fortunately, Ireland is not solely dependent on AstraZeneca. In fact, the vast majority of vaccines delivered here have been the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, more than 511,000 doses to date, along with 40,000 Moderna and 206,400 AstraZeneca.
The good news is that we don’t rely on a single vaccine and more are coming, including 600,000 single-shot Johnson & Johnson doses during April through June.
The Covid-19 story should soon move from a shortage of vaccine supplies to the delivery of vaccines and the opening of all 37 mass vaccination centers.
Then the questions will focus more on whether we have enough vaccinators, whether mass vaccination centers are carrying out enough immunizations each day, progress in each of the 15 groups of people to be vaccinated, and the impact on the virus with a greater number of people. immunized every day.
So in the coming months, the story will also change.
As the debate changes, so should background music in Ireland. We will enter a new phase. We should see a reopening of the partnership. Shops, restaurants, hotels, and pubs and hotels will reopen, although unfortunately some businesses may never recover. More people will go back to work, but not all. There will be some with big savings that they want to spend. Others face mounting bills and no sure way to pay them off. Recovery will inevitably be uneven in different parts of society.
But people are already expecting this fall and winter to be very different from what we witness in 2020. No one can say that Ireland will return to normal; nothing will ever be normal for this generation.
Reporting on this global pandemic is both a great responsibility and an honor. Being a health correspondent for RTÉ at this time and place is a coincidence in history. There has never been a story like this and I know I will never see one like this again in my life.
The task that occupies us every day, together with my great colleagues and other media, is to expose the facts and the possible implications of each development. There are days when the news is bad, but also others when there are positive news.
The hunger for better days can feed us now and make us stronger. The priority is to avoid contracting Covid-19, to be vaccinated and to be able to see family and friends again, in a more relaxed environment.
We are all witnesses to this unfolding story. People will come to their own verdict on what happened and how it was handled.
Hopefully that verdict is based on a fair reading of the facts.
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