DOSE-ASTER
Taoiseach under fire over vaccine shortages
It’s just about doable, but will require very careful calibration and management ROISIN SHORTALL YESTERDAY
GOVERNMENT plans to meet its June jabs deadline of vaccinating four out of five people have gone from confident to “hopeful” after the latest supply chain shocks.
And Taoiseach Micheal Martin admitted there will be more “bumps along the way” if we are to make it, while predicting we are still on track.
Ministers were left reeling yesterday morning as they headed into a crunch Cabinet meeting after learning up to one million Astrazeneca and Janssen jabs this quarter will be delayed.
This would have had a huge impact on the predicted total of 3.9 million vaccines due here by July, on which the 80% of adults receiving one dose each by the end of June target is based.
However, the Cabinet was saved a terrible day after a surprise announcement from Pfizer it will be delivering an extra 50 million jabs to the EU before the end of June.
One minister told the Irish Mirror it was “a massive relief” when the news came through right in the middle of their meeting.
Ireland will be entitled to a pro-rata supply of just under 550,000 from this new batch.
AGILE
But there is still a huge degree of uncertainty that the June deadline will be met.
The Government press secretary told reporters at the weekly Cabinet meeting briefing there was still “hope” targets could be met, and that “it may be” that we could get back on track.
The Taoiseach said while there would be problems, the “agile” nature of the plan would see the Government hit its mark.
In the meantime there will be a lot of what Government officials described last night as “number crunching” to be done by the HSE to get a new schedule sorted out.
The Government spokesman said: “There’s still hope that this vaccine programme can stay on track.”
He added: “We have to let the experts, who know what they’re doing, go through that.
“It may be that everything is fine and that we’re still on track, but I don’t want to say definitively that we’re not, but there’s a lot of hope and a lot of confidence that there still is going to be rapid vaccine rollout going into April, May and June and significant numbers are going to be achieved.”
Mr Martin said: “There will be bumps along the way, but the key point is that our programme is agile and is responsive, and we’re very determined to go at this as effectively as we can.
“And again we received this morning clear assurances from the HSE that 95% of what we have we will get out there on a weekly basis.”
Opposition parties last night heaped the pressure on the Government and warned it was in big trouble if it didn’t meet its June jabs promise.
Social Democrats Health spokeswoman Roisin Shortall, said the situation as it stands is clearly “very uncertain”.
She added: “There are a lot of variables. Astrazeneca can be used for first and second doses for 60 to 69-year-olds.
“Also NIAC may vary their advice. Overall it will be a challenge to meet
target of 80% getting their first dose by the end of June.
“It’s just about doable, but will require very careful calibration and management of the vaccine programme by the HSE and strict adherence to protocols.”
Sinn Fein’s David Cullinane said the Government needs to immediately explain how it can meet the June jabs deadline with an unreliable vaccine supplies schedule.
He added: “The three Government party leaders met with the expert group on the vaccine rollout today. We now need a clear plan from the HSE and Government which sets out how the recent NIAC recommendations and changes regarding Astrazeneca can be mitigated against and what targets are now in place for the months of April, May and June.
“We need clarity and maximum transparency.”
And Labour leader Alan Kelly, added it would be “massive” if they “failed to deliver.” he added: “The Taoi the seach and Minister for Health have both said they will still meet their target of 80% by June and I’m glad they have taken the time to relook at everything and have reconfirmed this.
“Obviously it would be a massive issue for this Government if they now failed to deliver on this considering they have reaffirmed this target.” Meanwhile, Ireland has recorded another 431 coronavirus cases – slightly above the rolling five-day average of 388.
A further 12 people have died from the disease, with NPHET reporting that four of the deaths happened this month, while two occurred in March and six in January.
Around 192 Covid-19 patients are in hospital, with 49 of those in intensive care.
The 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 people stands at 132.
There have now been 242,105 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland and the death toll here is 4,812 people.