BLOW TO VACCINE ROLLOUT
◼ Taoiseach rules out closing border ◼ Lockdown to continue until March ◼ UK strain of virus is ‘more deadly’ ◼Deliveries of ‘game-changer’ jab cut
PLANNED deliveries of the ‘game-changer’ AstraZeneca vaccine are to be drastically cut in a fresh blow to the rollout of the jab.
The makers say they will ship fewer doses to European Union countries than anticipated, due to supply chain problems.
The announcement comes as the HSE warned of an ‘extremely perilous position’ in hospitals, with just 26 ICU beds available while the numbers contracting the virus continue to grow.
And as the British government revealed plans for tighter Covid controls after discovering the UK strain of Covid-19 is more dangerous than they thought, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has insisted that he will not close the border.
Ireland was due to receive 3.3million doses of the easy-to-handle AstraZeneca vaccine, however, the drug company told European Union officials yesterday that it
would cut deliveries of its vaccine to the bloc by 60%, to 31 million doses, in the first quarter of the year, due to production problems.
It had been hoped that when the vaccine arrives next month, it would allow weekly jabs to increase to 100,000.
It has been described as a ‘game changer’ because it does not require the ultra-cold temperatures of the two other vaccines that are currently approved for use in the EU.
This means delivery and storage of the vaccine is easier, less costly and more suited to a mass rollout by GPs and pharmacists.
The company is waiting for the European
Medicines Agency to approve its vaccine, which could happen when the EU regulator meets on January 29.
However, it warned in a statement yesterday, that ‘initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain’.
It added: ‘We will be supplying tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union, as we continue to ramp up production volumes.’
This comes as the HSE chief Paul Reid warned that the situation in Irish hospitals is in an ‘extremely perilous position’ with just 26
ICU beds free across the country last night. A further 52 people have died of Covid-19 in Ireland and an additional 2,371 cases of the virus have also been confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach has said Ireland is ‘not in a position to seal the border’, despite the threat of the UK variant, which may be more deadly than previously thought.
There is some evidence that it carries a higher risk of death than the original strain, the British government’s chief scientific adviser said yesterday. The news came as prime minister Boris Johnson warned that it may take even further measures. However, despite mounting pressure from public health experts, Mr Martin has insisted that Ireland is ‘not in a position to seal the border’.
He also said that Ireland’s lockdown restrictions will not be eased at the end of this month.
Level 5 restrictions will continue into February, given the high level of community transmission that still exists.
Mr Martin said: ‘There is no talk at the moment in terms of any relaxation or reversing of restrictions at the end of this month. We are looking at a continuation of restrictions into February.’ A final decision will be made on Tuesday following a Cabinet meeting, he said.
Mr Martin said the Cabinet is also considering introducing mandatory quarantining for people who come into the country without proof of a negative PCR test.
It is also looking into suspending visa-free travel for some countries.
Talks are ongoing between the UK and Ireland to find a ‘two-island’ solution to mandatory quarantining.
But he said there were complications about introducing a wider quarantine because of the border.
‘Obviously there are complications, always have been, because of our relationship with the United Kingdom; with the border with the North, and also the fact that we’re integrated into the European economic
‘You could be fined up to €2,500’
system,’ he said. ‘I suppose, it’s more easy to call for a quarantine than to deliver it comprehensively. And a lot of people coming back are Irish people coming back into the country.’
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn has said mandatory quarantine should be introduced for people coming into Ireland. He told the Oireachtas Health Committee that there should be as few people as possible coming into the country for non-essential reasons.
He said the current regime on international travel makes it more difficult to maintain suppression of Covid-19, particularly in light of new strains of the virus.
He added: ‘NPHET has been as clear as it possibly can be in relation to international travel. We do not want non-essential travellers coming into this country. We’ve been clear on that for months.
‘There is no doubt that travel is continuing to play a role in the transmission of this disease in this country and will make it more difficult to maintain suppression over time. That’s particularly in light of the new variants. The regime that’s there at the moment will not stop all cases coming into this country.’
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the Government has decided against the measure because ‘it’s much more difficult to do than the benefit that it might derive’.
He told RTÉ News at One: ‘We haven’t decided to go down that road. Having said that, you know, we have changed the conditions around international travel really quite significantly in the last number of weeks. You cannot arrive in Ireland now, either by air or by sea, without having a negative PCR test in the previous 72 hours and, if you do, you know, you will even be talking to the gardaí, and you could be fined up to €2,500.’
Meanwhile, a group of scientists, called the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group (ISAG), have been calling for the quarantining of people arriving into the country for months, along with other measures.
Trinity College Professor Tómas Ryan, who is a member of ISAG, said yesterday he is ‘completely on board’
with any moves to quarantine people arriving into the country. ‘It is absolutely essential. We need an international travel quarantine because airport testing has not been working sufficiently in any country,’ he said.
Assistant Professor of Virology in UCD Dr Gerald Barry said the current restrictions and regulations around travel are ‘nowhere near sufficient’ to prevent new variants coming into the country.
Dr Barry said that the requirement for a PCR test 72 hours before travelling to Ireland will pick up a certain amount of people but it will also miss ‘quite a large number of people’ that may potentially be infected right before getting the test, so it won’t be picked up, or in the period after.