{"id":24435,"date":"2021-12-14T12:48:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-14T17:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24435"},"modified":"2021-12-15T12:51:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T17:51:21","slug":"defense-forces-to-be-brought-in-to-help-ramp-up-booster-rollout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=24435","title":{"rendered":"Defense Forces To Be Brought In To Help Ramp Up Booster Rollout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Defense Forces will be deployed across the country in a bid to increase the number of daily booster jabs (PA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More members of the Defense Forces will be drafted in to help ramp up the number of booster jabs a day, the Taoiseach has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government is under pressure to rapidly accelerate the vaccine program as concerns over the effects of the Omicron variant escalate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Defense Forces will be deployed across the country in a bid to increase the number of daily booster jabs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The HSE also has plans to redeploy staff, increase the number of pop-up vaccine centers and extending opening hours to help increase the number of booster vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, told the Cabinet about plans to increase capacity in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Donnelly said on Tuesday morning that the Government will bring in more measures and scheduling options so more people can get the booster jab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin was grilled in the D\u00e1il about the plans, particularly after the interval time for booster was cut to three months on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinn F\u00e9in president Mary Lou McDonald claimed the Government\u2019s lack of planning has led to issues with the booster rollout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen problems with the alignment of the booking system between the HSE, GPs and pharmacies,\u201d Ms McDonald added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis means that people have received multiple appointments which stay on the system, even when people tried to cancel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne person has reported receiving nine appointments, been declared a no-show for each one, despite no longer living in the State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe lack of Government planning has also hit the number of vaccinators that we have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are down 500 vaccinations since the summer which means the booster campaign is now operating at two thirds of the capacity of the original rollout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaoiseach, you say it\u2019s all hands on deck but the time for big announcements and big targets is over. It\u2019s now time for delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Martin said: \u201cThe Defense Forces are involved, have been involved and will be increasing their involvement in supporting the vaccination program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlso the testing program, because the testing has been ramped up as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere has been an extensive recruitment campaign underway for the last number of weeks in relation to vaccinators, part-time or retired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said there are about 500 pharmacists involved in the program, with plans to bring on more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Martin added: \u201cBe in no doubt, that over the last number of days we have been working with HSE and with public officials in terms of expanding further and extending further the vaccination program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are three essential channels, so the vaccination centers, the GPs and the pharmacies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDiscussions have been underway with the IMO [Irish Medical Organization], with GPs for example, in terms of being able to do more, if possible at all, from GPs across the length and breadth of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Martin said that hours will be extended across vaccination centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall said there is a need for an increased national effort to ramp up the booster campaign in \u201cevery way possible\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the height of the vaccine program, 400,000 doses were being delivered every week. Last week, it was only 220,000 in total here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo we need to again ramp that up very substantially in our settings. Clearly the suggestion that vaccine hesitancy was an issue does not hold up. We also know that the supply of vaccine doses is not constrained either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what are the limiting factors and what can be done to remove them immediately?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe clearly don\u2019t have sufficient staff in the vaccine centers and clearly need to to open those centers for a sufficiently long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Donnelly said that said Government ministers got \u201cvery sobering advice\u201d about the transmissibility of Omicron over the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have been working through the weekend and have been in touch with Niac [National Immunization Advisory Committee] as well,\u201d Mr Donnelly added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is a lot being worked through at the moment. The most important thing is that we are able to administer as many boosters as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe already have the fourth-highest booster vaccination rate anywhere in the EU, which is very positive, so we are coming from a very strong place, but it is very important to me and others that we go further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt really is all hands on deck to get as many people boosted as quickly as possible. In the meantime, the message to everybody is really stronger now than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe emerging evidence we have on Omicron is that it is absolutely essential that people get their boosters, that the additional protection it gives is very, very significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

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