REVEALED: CHAOS OF VACCINE ROLLOUT
Insiders accuse minister, HSE and task force of being paralysed by crisis
CABINET ministers say that a chaotic lack of co-ordination in Government and between agencies, allied with a failure to display ministerial proactivity, are all contributing to Ireland’s vaccine chaos.
It comes as the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal that despite the head of the Vaccine Task Force speculating this week that a change in the interval between AstraZeneca jabs could free up Ireland’s flailing supply – the HSE is already administering the jab at the maximum interval of 12 weeks.
This gaffe suggests the Task Force and the HSE are not on the same page – with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly apparently also unaware of the HSE’s decision to give the first and second dose 12 weeks apart when speaking on the topic in the Dáil on Thursday.
Labour leader Alan Kelly heavily criticised the agencies and the minister for a lack of basic coordination – describing the health minister as ‘a commentator’.
‘It is clear that one agency doesn’t know what the other is doing. We also hear of changes or additions to AstraZeneca for the over-70s. All of these point to a lack of co-ordination between various different bodies, and being done separate to the minister, who is just a commentator,’ Mr Kelly told the MoS
‘Behind the scenes, it seems that many people know that the changes are going to happen, but it is not being communicated by the HSE or other agencies. And certainly not by the minister,’ Mr Kelly said.
‘He’s constantly commentating, rather than getting into the details rather than coordinating the logistics, rather than actually being aware and conscious of what is happening on the ground.’
The criticism comes as the MoS can reveal the extent of the vaccine chaos, laid bare in a series of confusing events.
On Friday, March 5, the MoS questioned the HSE about the intervals at which Ireland has been administering the AstraZeneca vaccine.
In response, the HSE told this newspaper: ‘Two doses of Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca are required, with an interval of 12 weeks between doses, as a higher efficacy after the second dose was found if the booster dose was given at 12 weeks.
‘The HSE has administered the AstraZeneca vaccine as per the above from the outset.’
Then, this Thursday, Richard Bruton questioned Mr Donnelly in the Dáil, over whether we should now be looking to extend the intervals between vaccines given that: ‘80% of the impact is delivered through the first jab, with the second jab adding only another 10% to 15% in terms of effectiveness’.
Mr Bruton – who is the chairman of the Fine Gael parliamentary party – suggested that a change in jab intervals could increase the short-term supply of first-dose vaccines. He suggested extending the intervals would allow us to quickly move down through the priority groups.
In response, Mr Donnelly did not indicate that he was aware that the HSE, from the outset, has been administering the AstraZeneca vaccine at the furthest recommended interval.
He said: ‘The deputy’s point on the interval between doses is an excellent question and one that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) has been looking at and will continue to look at. Some concerns have been raised in terms of a fall-off in effectiveness or levels of protection if the interval is too long. That is something NIAC is paying attention to and if it makes any recommendations to us, whether on the mRNA vaccines or in regard to AstraZeneca, that is something we certainly will look at.’
The following morning on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live, NIAC chief Professor Karina
Butler indicated that
NIAC’s change in the recommendation of administering the AstraZeneca vaccine from 4-12 weeks to 8-12 weeks could affect the numbers of people vaccinated.
She said: ‘First of all, from the very first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, by 20 to 22 days you’ve got a very significant benefit with over 70% efficacy against serious disease or hospitalisation. What they found was... if you extended that gap from four weeks to eight weeks, or to 12 weeks, not only did you not lose any of that efficacy it actually seemed to increase a little bit – but when you delay giving that second dose, you got a much better response than if you gave that second dose early.’
When asked by Ms Byrne if the vaccine gap should be 12 weeks, Dr Butler said: ‘The gap can be anything from four to 12 weeks and what we’re recommending now is that we leave it at least eight to 12 weeks, but there may be situations, for some reason, that you want to get those vaccines done quickly and it can be given. It is authorised for use after a four-week interval, but there does seem to be benefit to stretching that interval out more towards the 12 weeks.’
When asked if this stretching would have an affect on supply, Dr Butler said: ‘Well, hopefully, because it means that for those who have had their first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine. They know that by 21 to 22 days they are going to have very, very significant benefits of protection up at high levels, and that then they don’t have to worry about getting that second dose until about 12 weeks later, and that gives time for more supplies to come in and also gives time to get the vaccine that we do have out to more people.’
At no time did Prof. Butler reference the HSE’s operational decision to delay all second doses to the full 12 weeks. This led to erroneous reports that the interval was to be increased – and potentially supply would be affected.
When asked to explain Dr Butler’s indication that the change in recommendation may affect supply, NIAC referred the MoS to its guidance on vaccine administration.
To add to the confusion, on Friday afternoon, a spokesman for Mr Donnelly said it was his understanding that since the NIAC recommendation was made in February of a 4-12 week seconddose administration for the vaccine, ‘The HSE has been administering at a 12-week interval’. This was despite his boss the day before showing no such understanding.
Mr Kelly said that the fact that other Government agencies didn’t know that the HSE has already extended a gap in the administration of two AstraZeneca jabs is emblematic of the chaos in the system.
One minister who spoke to the MoS this weekend also said senior colleagues are suffering from a type of ‘torpor’ or ‘paralysis’.
‘Sometimes it isn’t important enough to be working hard to try and get vaccines. You have to show people that you’re working hard to do it. So, even if you don’t succeed, at least the public would know you were trying.
‘So texting or talking by phone to Ursula von der Leyen, it’s not enough. The Taoiseach should be flying to Brussels to meet her. And Berlin and Moscow and wherever.’
One minister told the MoS that he is not clear about what different agencies are supposed to be doing.
‘Back in December it was all about the Vaccine Task Force. They were going to lead all of this. This was one of the teams. But now they have gone completely off the agenda. Do they have any powers or have I just forgotten? What is the Vaccine Task Force doing? The task force must be active on policy.’
Unrealistic targets being set by the HSE has also seriously undermined the Government, the sources added: ‘The HSE saying it will get x amount done by x days, then they don’t, that can only undermine the morale of the public and make the Government look foolish.’
Mr Kelly hit out at the Government’s rollout: ‘I said before that I don’t even believe that Stephen Donnelly should be in charge of the vaccine rollout. As a former minister, I can’t see how he is expected to be in charge of this along with all the other responsibilities he has.
‘The opportunity to reassign some of his duties could have been taken during last week’s minor Cabinet reshuffle that was done to accommodate Helen McEntee’s maternity leave,’ he said.
‘Vaccine Task Force has gone off the agenda’