SUPPLY SETBACK FOR HOSPITALS

Only top-up inoculations can be given this week

NO new vaccine doses will be delivered to hospitals this week due to supply issues.

In one of the worst weeks of the pandemic as the daily Covid death toll hit a record high yesterday, it emerged there will be 50% fewer vaccines than expected delivered this week.

This translates to unexpected reduction of up to 25,000 doses.

The slowdown in production means only second doses of the vaccine will be administered in hospitals this week.

News of the shortfall comes as a record number of 93 deaths of people infected with the virus were reported last night, along with a further 2,001 new Covid-19 cases.

Meanwhile, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal the Government will fail to deliver on its promise to vaccinate all nursing home residents and staff by the end of the week.

A spokesman for the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly last night conceded his pledge will not be met, citing outbreaks of the virus in ‘a handful’ of locations. The failure comes as the European Commission yesterday urged member states to speed up the pace of Covid-19 vaccinations to ensure that ‘at least 70%’ of their adult populations are vaccinated by the summer.

The Commission also hopes to see at least 80% of health and social care professionals in every EU country vaccinated by March.

The HSE last night said: No new supplies will be sent to hospitals this week other than those to allow for the second doses for those vaccinated in week one.’

On January 8, Mr Donnelly announced an acceleration of the jabs roll-out in nursing homes in a bid to get them completely vaccinated a week ahead of schedule.

His plan aimed to use the ‘buffer’ or reserve supplies, citing ‘reassurances’ on supply of the vaccine.

This was despite the chair of the High-Level Taskforce for Covid-19 Vaccine roll-out Professor Brian Mac Craith briefing Oireachtas members and journalists hours previously that it would be ‘prudent’ to keep a one-week buffer.

The acceleration of the nursing home roll-out resulted in some frontline healthcare workers having their vaccination appointments cancelled.

An internal email to staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in

Drogheda, Co. Louth, stated that ‘any and all available vaccines nationally are being prioritised for nursing homes’.

HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said the supply issue disrupted the roll-out plan which was based on an assumption of a steady constant supply. ‘It is disruptive, there’s no hiding that. We had plans based on confirmed delivery of 40,000 doses right through to the middle of February,’ he said.

The Mail has also learned that Dr Henry will today issue updated advice to hospitals and vaccination centres about the roll-out of jabs.

The advice will deal with further scenarios following a string of controversies about vaccine use, including the furore of relatives of staff at the Rotunda and Coombe hospitals receiving the vaccine ahead of staff on the frontline. Dr Henry described the incidents at the hospitals as ‘disappointing’ and said it ‘took away’ from the good work being done in hospitals around the country.

Earlier this week, the Mail revealed how a number of Fianna Fáil TDs – including a Cabinet minister – claimed to have influenced who is first in line to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien and backbench TD Jackie Cahill boasted about their impact in securing scarce supplies. However, this view does not appear to be shared at Cabinet.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said that he has been ‘crystal clear’ in his view that ‘who gets vaccines should be decided by doctors’.

‘How possibly am I, as a politician, qualified to decide whether you get a vaccine ahead of the person you are standing beside?’ he said. ‘That is not where our scope of influence should lie.

‘Of course, this is a democracy. It is open to any TD to make representations on behalf of their constituents and of course it is also open to any Government minister to speak up for their Department or their sector. There is a difference between seeking that information and the plan being altered by politicians. In my view, this is an area where we must, absolutely must, be led by medical experts.

‘I would imagine that is a view supported by the overwhelming majority of people in this country,’ the former health minister said.