No Compromise on Covid Vaccine Safety, Says Head of Regulatory Authority

The executive director of the Health Products Regulatory Authority, Dr. Lorraine Nolan, has said that the new Covid-19 vaccines have “exactly the same standard” as any vaccine already developed.

There has been no compromise with safety, he told RTÉ radio’s News at One, adding: “They are of the same standard and quality.”

The bar will not be lowered and the new vaccines will be subjected to the same intensive and rigorous monitoring as all vaccines, he said.

Dr. Nolan said that all vaccines will have complete information and data so that it can be determined which vaccines work best with various age groups, vulnerable groups, and cohorts.

This comes as the government is due to decide next week on the priority groups for the Covid-19 vaccine, which will likely be available in early January.

The first beneficiaries are likely to include the elderly and high-risk groups, health workers, residents and staff of nursing homes, other front-line workers and those who work in meat plants.

Although the UK government announced yesterday that it will start administering the first doses of one of the vaccines next week, the government here, along with other EU countries, is following a more cautious approach and will be later this month earlier. the first vaccine is given. approved for use.

Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann on Wednesday hailed UK approval of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine for use as “the beginning of the end” and said vaccination of health workers in the North could begin. by the end of next week.

However, government sources in Dublin told The Irish Times that they were skeptical about the speeding up of the vaccine’s approval in the UK, suggesting it was motivated by the political needs of the UK government.

Different vaccines

Donnelly told the Oireachtas health committee that getting the vaccines will cost the state 117.6 million euros. The government has agreements to buy 15.6 million doses of vaccines from several different pharmaceutical companies, he said.

Donnelly said that while there was no decision yet, his “unequivocal opinion” was that the vaccine should be provided free of charge.

At the end of next week, the expert group chaired by Brian MacCraith will present to the Government a plan to make the vaccine available.

It is understood that members of the vaccine working group are examining how vaccine supplies should be obtained, transported, stored and distributed.