[ad_1]
The Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 single dose vaccine should be available in Ireland in April and it will be a sea change in the plan to vaccinate the entire population, said Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
With the state’s death toll from Covid-19 set to surpass 4,000 this week, on Tuesday night, Martin set out to deliver a positive message about the impact of the new vaccination supplies.
He said a significant increase in vaccination supplies starting in April would see large numbers of people vaccinated by late summer, with everyone over the age of 70 immune by mid-May. The cabinet was also told on Tuesday that if AstraZeneca was approved for the 65-69 age group, that cohort could also be vaccinated in mid-May.
“A lot of people will have been vaccinated at the end of the summer and there is no doubt that they will have a different life because of it,” said the Taoiseach in an interview with Seacht Lá on TG4.
Johnson & Johnson submitted an application Tuesday to the European Medicines Agency seeking authorization for its single-dose vaccine, paving the way for its availability in Ireland in April.
The regulator announced that the request could be processed faster than usual as the company had already been sending data continuously.
The EU has purchased 200 million doses of the vaccine with the option to buy a further 200 million, putting Ireland on hold for approximately 2.2 million doses.
Since the vaccine only requires a single dose and can be stored in normal refrigerators, it is considered a potential change for vaccination campaigns.
Trials show that the vaccine is 72% effective in preventing mild to moderate Covid-19 infections and 85% protection against serious diseases.
The Cabinet was also updated on Tuesday on two other Covid-19 vaccines, Novavax and Valneva. The Valneva vaccine has a long shelf life and may be useful as a booster vaccine.
Implementation rate
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan raised questions during the meeting about the pace of the deployment of vaccination in the state.
Varadkar, the sources said, asked why some doses of vaccine were kept in stock when the stated plan was to distribute them as soon as they arrived. Sources told The Irish Times that some shares of Moderna were held on the back foot as the HSE changed its plans in light of the decision to administer only mRNA vaccines to those over 70. Some 8,000 Moderna vaccines will be distributed later this week to general medicine clinics which can be difficult to reach. This vaccine has a longer shelf life. A reserve reserve is being held for future second doses.
Meanwhile, Ryan asked why it would take three weeks to vaccinate people over the age of 85, the process that began this week, and if this could be sped up.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is said to have expressed confidence during the meeting that up to 1.2 million doses of vaccines would be available this quarter and 4-4.5 million doses the next.
Quarantine
Separately, there will be a short disembodied Cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning to finalize the bill to introduce mandatory quarantine for passengers from 20 countries with a high incidence of new variants of the virus.
Donnelly brought the text of the healthcare amendment bill to Cabinet on Tuesday, but it is understood that there were disagreements on the issue of waivers.
A government spokesman said late Tuesday that the remaining problems were minor and that it was about “fine-tuning” complex legislation.
Another 33 deaths of Covid-19 patients were reported Tuesday. This brings the total number of deaths from Covid-19 in the pandemic to 3,980.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) also reported 744 new confirmed cases of the disease, bringing the total to 211,113.
Daily Covid-19 cases could drop to 100-300 by mid-March and around 60 patients would need intensive care at the same time, the government was informed. In a letter to Mr. Donnelly, the deputy chief medical officer, Dr. Ronan Glynn, said that the incidence of the disease was declining in most age groups and that mortality could now be stabilizing.
[ad_2]