‘We definitely don’t need Boris Johnson, but we do need a clear timeline for the vaccine rollout’ says FF Cllr Jimmy Moloney
A KILLARNEY councilman’s call to have vaccine roll-out champ Boris Johnson brought from the UK to get the Irish inoculated met with a less-than enthusiastic reception from a Listowel colleague.
That’s because Fianna Fáil Cllr Jimmy Moloney doesn’t believe the UK methodology is as good as it looks on paper.
What we need to do, rather, is to continue abiding by the medical guidelines that appear to be underpinning the vaccine roll-out here.
But above all, Cllr Moloney said, we need a clear time-line on the schedule for vaccinations, to give people clarity on their immediate futures as well, and to return some confidence, such as it might be currently worth, to the economy.
“We definitely don’t need Boris Johnson,” Cllr Moloney told The Kerryman.
“I think in terms of first and second doses of the vaccinations, the UK figures might not be as they appear to us at present.
“I believe the HSE is doing it the right way, in accordance with the guidelines.
“But they do need to give people a clear timeline on when the vaccines will be delivered across all age-groups and locations, and the messaging needs to be more on point,” Cllr Moloney added.
“People are crying out for clarity now. We have already written off January, February and now March, but as we start to look forward to emerging from all of this, people need to be able to start planning ahead.
“The timeline for the vaccinations is too vague. There are conflicting messages coming out from government, and leaks, and they are not helping the situation. We need a definitive timeline to be published.”
It’s an imperative all the more urgent as Listowel and Ballybunion need to know if traders in either town can hope of a season in the months ahead.
“The issue at the moment is that people are planning for the summer, and Kerry obviously would be a big attraction for home vacations. People have to start planning now for it, in terms of both the service providers and the rest of us, but at this stage we can’t do anything,” Cllr Moloney said.