Government needs to accelerate Covid vaccine programme 'to ease public anxiety'
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The Government should take delivery to the AstraZeneca "game changer" vaccine now, so it can be rolled out immediately after it is approved, the leader of Sinn Féin has said.
Such a move would ensure the country can press ahead in the vaccine programme which has, in recent days, been criticised for its slow start.
It comes as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he now expects that at at least four million people will be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of September.
Updated projections sent by Mr Donnelly to TDs confirm that the Government now expects to receive 3.7m doses between April and the end of June and a further 3.8m between July and the end of September.
This would see at least 4m people vaccinated by the end of the summer once additional vaccines are approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the coming weeks.
At-risk groups and healthcare workers will get the vaccine first, and it is expected that 700,000 people will be vaccinated by the end of March.
But Mary Lou McDonald said we are now "in crisis situation" and there "a real public anxiety" that the vaccines are rolled out quickly
"We need to ensure that we have the supply side right and then crucially that we have the right mechanisms of distribution to distribute safely and efficiently the vaccine.," Ms McDonald said, speaking on .
Pointing to the fact that the AstraZeneca vaccine is already being administered in Northern Ireland, Ms McDonald said: "We have suggested, for example, that although AstraZeneca, which we all know will be the game changer because it can be distributed by GPs and pharmacists, that we actually get the supplies of that vaccine into the State now, and await its clearance by the European authorities, which I hope happens."
Meanwhile, People Before Profit have called on Mr Donnelly to come before the Dáil next week and outline the government's clear plan to effectively and efficiently roll out a mass vaccination plan over the coming months.
The group will be making the case for such a session in the Dáil Business Committee this morning (thurs).
PBP health spokesperson, Gino Kenny said: “It is very important that the Minister for Health comes before the Dáil next week for a session where we can hear a clear and unambiguous statement on behalf of the government about how they intend on implementing a mass vaccination plan in this country over the next few months."