Government need to drop the secrecy and be open about vaccine’s roll-out

IT was probably inevitable but vaccines have quickly become one of the most divisive i ssues of the pandemic to date. Perhaps surprisingly though it is not the, so called, ‘anti vaxxers’ who have made the roll-out of the various vaccines a political hot potato. Rather it is the sheer demand for the jab that is posing the most difficulty for the Government as it tries to ramp up its woefully slow vaccination programme.

Given the dismal year we have all endured – and with many more months of restrictions to come – it is no surprise that the vaccine, and with it the hope of freedom, is so sought after.

However, the shortage in supply has become an increasingly vexed issue and with it the last vestiges of the ‘ blitz spirit’ that categorised the early days of the crisis are being swept away.

With the majority of the country’s most vulnerable now vaccinated and protected – as much as possible – focus has swiftly turned to the roll-out of the vaccine for the rest of the population and to say people are desperate to get their hands on it is something of an understatement.

The revelations about the Beacon Hospital’s decision to provide excess doses to the staff of a private school attended by children of its chairman caused understandable public fury.

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin went so far as to describe the Beacon’s actions as ‘repugnant’ but a far thornier problem is looming on the horizon for the Government.

In the last few days all three of the main teachers’ unions – the ASTI, INTO and TUI – expressed dismay at the Government’s decision to change the vaccine roll-out to an age-based schedule.

Ostensibly, in terms of vaccinating the entire population as quickly as possible, this seems like a good decision and it is a system already in use in the UK – which, it should be noted has access to far more vaccine supplies than we do – where it appears to have been successful.

However the change means many teachers who would have been due to get the vaccine relatively soon will now be pushed well down the waiting list.

Given teachers must spend hours in small classrooms with large numbers of un-vaccinated children one can understand why they are so anxious.

School reopening will not be affected by the dispute, the unions have guaranteed that much, but with ballots on industrial action promised it could pose major problems for the State exams.

It’s not just teachers either, many other front-line workers like those in the emergency services also have a very good claims to be vaccinated early and they will surely join the fray before long.

Aside from the limited supply of vaccine much of the problem is due to the Government’s woeful communications about its roll-out which has left people confused and increasingly angry.

Considering the government is managing to get vaccines into people’s arms as quickly as supplies arrive the veil of mystery around the vaccine figures is nothing short of bizarre.

Secrecy has always been a watchword for the Irish health service but in this case perhaps even the bureaucrats of the HSE might agree that honesty is actually the best policy.