Covid infection rates could drop in weeks after vaccinations 

Professor Karina Butler told the Irish Examiner that it is hard to say precisely when the vaccine rollout will have an effect on that number, but she described reports from Israel, which has vaccinated more people per capita than any other country, on the short-term vaccine impact as “encouraging”.

She said: “It depends on how many of the cohort are vaccinated and efficacy of vaccine in preventing transmission. 

"We can be optimistic that we might see a falloff in infection rate in healthcare workers within a few weeks after a majority have received two doses.” 

Ireland now has access to two vaccines, as the first of the 875,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived on Tuesday. The largest order is yet to come as Ireland will rely mostly on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

Professor of comparative immunology at Trinity College Dublin, Cliona O’Farrelly, said all three vaccines show “wonderful efficacy”, and are to be welcomed.

“We are lucky to have access to any of them," she said. "The advantage of the AstraZeneca one is plainly and simply to do with storage and transport.” 

This vaccine can be stored in a normal fridge at -4C, unlike the others, which require ultra-low temperatures.

Prof O’Farrelly said the evidence shows the three vaccines are completely safe. She robustly dismissed fears which have circulated on social media around infertility and these vaccines.

“There is no evidence whatsoever that any of these vaccines have any effect on fertility," she said. "That is a whole lot of hot air which was generated, based on nonsense.” 

Everyone should, however, follow social distancing measures until the majority of the population have been vaccinated, she said.

“This is a real logistical challenge,” she said. 

"Even Israel, who are doing so well, have still done less than 20% of their population."

However, on a more positive note, she predicted that vaccinating vulnerable people first will bring a reduction in deaths and in the number of severely ill patients in hospitals.

“We should see the effects in the general population over the next few months," she said. "And for healthcare workers, hospitals should become places where you cannot get Covid.” 

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla announced late on Tuesday evening that the company is to boost production up to 2bn doses. He said: “We feel confident that we can deliver that.”

Concerns continue around the rollout in Ireland, however.

The new IT system for booking vaccinations was due to go live for GPs on Friday, but this was pushed back to Monday before hitting further problems.

The HSE plans to use this same system for the general public later in the year.

It was yesterday before a HSE spokeswoman could confirm to the Irish Examiner that the issue had been resolved.

It is not yet clear if the HSE has enough trained vaccinators to deliver the shots in a timely manner. The HSE has said it has trained an additional 300 people to join existing vaccine teams totalling about 1,700 people.