ARMBASS SADORS
Influencers may be asked to help get the young on side Report lays out key details of inoculating the population
FAMOUS faces are expected to be asked to step up and front a Covid- 19 vaccine campaign.
It’s understood this will be one of the key recommendations in the special taskforce report to be handed to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly this morning.
The A- listers will be used to try and drive the amount of jabs amid fears that anti- vaxxers have stolen a march on the Government’s plans for mass inoculations.
It’s believed the so- called “Vaccine Ambassadors” will be drawn from the ranks of famous Irish people in sport, showbiz, politics and public life. They may also come from social media, with i nf l uencers expected t o be recruited specifically to persuade the young to get on board.
The main 50- page document – one of two texts – will also talk about the massive logistical effort that will be required to roll out the vaccine. A
Government source said last night it would “basically be the biggest public health logistics job in the history of the State”.
It’s understood that huge “mass vaccination centres” are going to be needed and the Government has been on the lookout for suitable sites over the past few weeks.
Mr Donnelly will review the taskforce report today before bringing it to his ministerial colleagues in Cabinet.
That crunch meeting will either be held this afternoon or at the regular scheduled time for the weekly Government meeting, Tuesday morning.
The taskforce has reported back to the Government very quickly. It was only established l ast month, with former DCU President Professor Brian Maccraith appointed chairman.
Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan is also on the taskforce, as is Paul Reid, CEO of the HSE.
Senior civil servant and chair of the senior officials group on Covid- 19, Liz Canavan, Barry Lowry, Government chief information officer and Paul Quinn, Government chief procurement officer, also sit on the group .
Meanwhile, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar talked about vaccines during Leaders’ Questions yesterday.
He said the Government’s priority list of who gets the jab first, which was
It is based on medical and scientific advice & we did not make any modifications LEO VARADKAR ON PRIORITISATION LIST FOR THE CORONAVIRUS VACCINE
p u b l i s h e d Tuesday, i s set in stone”.
This means that if it is considered one cat egor y of t h e p o p u l a t i o n n e e d s t o b e bumped up t he l i st, f or medical r e a s o n s f o r example, the Government can do it.
Mr Varadkar said: “Last Tuesday the Cabinet approved the prioritisation of the vaccine, including which groups will receive it first and last.
“That was based on advice from the National Public Health Emergency
o n “not
Te a m , N P H ET, and the National I m m u n i s a t i o n A d v i s o r y Committee.
“I t i s b a s e d on medical and scientific advice and we did not make any modifications to it.
“We accepted it as it was presented t o us, st a r t i ng wit h t h e g r oup wi t h h i g h e s t r i s k , a n d we a l l accept that comprises people over 65 in nursing homes, before moving t o healthcare workers i n dire ct contact with patients. We all know the reasons for that. other groups.
“This is not set in stone and it can evolve as new information emerges and we learn more about the virus and vaccines and as more vaccines are approved, the list may need to be modified.
“We expect one vaccin e f rom P f i zer/ Biontech t o be approved within weeks but within months six could be approved and they will not be the same.
“They will have different characteri st i cs and prof i l es and we may need to modify the advice because of that.”
It then moves to