Government urged to provide a ‘reasonable estimate’ on Covid-19 vaccination target
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The Government should provide a “reasonable best estimate” for when the majority of the population will be vaccinated against Covid-19, a public health expert has said.
Professor Anthony Staines, who is a member of the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group (ISAG), said the best-case scenario would see 80% of the population vaccinated by the end of August but realistically it was likely to be November before this could be achieved.
It was “good news”, Professor Staines said, that more vaccines would become available but it would be some time before the majority of the population would be vaccinated against Covid-19.
“The earliest it could happen, if everything went perfectly, would be the end of August. I don’t think we’ll make that because the supply of vaccines won’t support that. I think realistically we are talking about November,” he said.
We are set to receive substantially more vaccines per month from April on, which will allow us to ramp up significantly and protect more people from Covid-19. We are receiving a pro rata allocation - like all EU countries - based on our population size.
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) January 11, 2021
The UK government, he said, had estimated it would be October before a critical mass of the population there is vaccinated and the Irish Government should provide people with an indicative and realistic timeframe.
“The Government need to tell the truth, people are fed up being fed fairy stories. People want to know a reasonable best estimate,” Prof Staines said.
The DCU professor added that clarity was needed on what strategy is in place to manage Covid until the vaccination programme is rolled out.
“The question is, are we going to have two more lockdowns until we have everyone vaccinated or is the Government going to do something different. We need to know what the plan is,” he said, pointing out that Germany was embracing a lockdown until April.
His comments come as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is now considering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for approval, having already approved the Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines for use.
Some good news on vaccines - The EMA has confirmed this morning that the AstraZeneca application has been made and says an opinion could be issued by 29 January, which if achieved without issue should see end-Jan timeline for approval. 👍
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) January 12, 2021
The Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine is currently being administered to priority groups and delivery of the first batches of the Moderna vaccine is expected this week. The EMA is expected to decide on the AstraZeneca vaccine by January 29.
Last week, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said that, depending on supplies and deliveries, the Government hoped to have 700,000 people vaccinated by the end of March and to ramp up quickly as more vaccines become available. Ireland has pre-ordered more than 14 million doses of Covid vaccines.
At the time of going to press, the department was not available for comment on whether the prospect of a third vaccine would further accelerate the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.