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People aged 70 and over should have received both doses of their Covid-19 vaccine by mid-May, the Health Minister has said.<\/p>\nPeople aged 70 and over should have received both doses of their Covid-19 vaccine by mid-May, the Health Minister has said.<\/p>\n
Stephen Donnelly said that despite disruptions to the supply chain, and changing delivery schedules, it should still be possible to vaccinate the entire population by September as planned.<\/p>\n
But he warned that this projection is based on \u201chighly conditional forecasts\u201d.<\/p>\n
Vaccination of the over-85s group will begin from Monday, with over 20,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be distributed to GPs next week.<\/p>\n
That figure will rise to 50,000 the following week, Mr Donnelly told the D\u00e1il.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe schedule I have would suggest that the group (over 70s) will have finished their second doses by mid-May.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as always, these things are dependent on the supplies arriving.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get the supplies that are forecast, and we know these things go up and down, it would be around mid-May the second dose is complete.\u201d<\/p>\n
The timeline was criticized by Sinn F\u00e9in health spokesman David Cullinane.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI accept that there are supply issues, but the middle of May, for all of the over 70s to be inoculated, it\u2019s a long time for those most at risk to be waiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think that will cause concern for many older people.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of Sunday, 272,000 vaccines have been administered in Ireland, Mr Donnelly said.<\/p>\n
Vaccination of the over 85s cohort is to begin on Monday through GPs\u2019 surgeries.<\/p>\n
Alternative arrangements will be made for those unable to travel to their GP, the Minister said.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThere will be people who can\u2019t make the journey to a GP and local solutions are being put in place for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cNext week, the plan is to distribute approximately 20,000 mNRA vaccines to the GP network, specifically for the 85 and older group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s about 10,000 doses of Moderna and 12,000 doses of Pfizer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe following week, we\u2019re planning to increase that to around 50,000 vaccine doses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan is to increase that again the week after that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs with all vaccine forecasts, these plans are entirely dependent on supplies arriving in to Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Donnelly said that 5,800 vaccinators have been trained to date, but that many more will be needed.<\/p>\n
The latest information shows that 85 per cent of people say they will definitely or probably take the vaccine.<\/p>\n
Some 3,000 residents and staff in nursing home settings have yet to receive the vaccine, the D\u00e1il heard.<\/p>\n
This has been complicated by Covid-19 outbreaks, with people unable to receive a vaccine for 28 days after contracting the virus.<\/p>\n
The Minister also defended the EU over its handling of the vaccine rollout, which has come in for heavy criticism.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe EU27 approach is the right one for Ireland, and for Europe as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout us smaller countries like Ireland would have struggled for contracted supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy working as part of the EU we now have advance purchase agreements in place for almost 16 million vaccine doses.\u201d<\/p>\n