Significant J&J shortfall puts Ireland's vaccine target in doubt
Wire Lawless/pa Brian Picture:
Over half of Irish adults will have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the weekend but significant shortfalls in the delivery of the one-shot J&J vaccine has put government targets in doubt, the Dáil has been told.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly updated the Dáil on the vaccine rollout but said that it is "unclear" if the Government's target of vaccinating, or offering a dose, to 80% of adults by the end of June will be met.
Mr Donnelly told the Dáil that this is down to "significant" delivery shortfalls, particularly with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
He said that while Ireland had a contract for 600,000 doses of the one-shot vaccine, the best-case scenario is that 235,000 will be delivered.
In the worst case, it would be just 60,000.
He said that this is down to a J&J plant in the US not yet being approved by the European Medicines Agency.
The Minister said that while Ireland had signed up to a new purchase scheme for Pfizer vaccines, there are "some doubts" about the AstraZeneca delivery schedule.
Mr Donnelly said the take-up of the vaccine is strong.
He said that nearly everyone over 70 had been vaccinated and among those aged 60 to 69, 89% of people had signed up, while this is at 86% for the 50 to 59 cohort. More than 70% of the latter group has received its first dose.
In the 40 to 49 age group, more than 45% had registered.
Sinn Féin's David Cullinane said the delivery doubts surrounding the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines puts the reopening of society at risk.
"The delays in supply of the Janssen vaccine are cause for serious concern. It raises questions about Government targets and the possibility for safe re-openings in July.
"High levels of vaccination are needed to keep community transmission down as social contacts increase."
Mr Donnelly said the Citywest vaccination centre had administered its 100,000th dose yesterday.
"Yesterday afternoon, Des O'Grady from Castleknock in Dublin received the 100,000th vaccine dose administered at the Citywest vaccination centre.
"This was a remarkable achievement for a single centre. O'Grady received one of approximately 280,000 vaccine doses being administered this week.
"Major inroads have been made in a number of important population cohorts and the number of persons who have been fully vaccinated continues to increase. We are moving ever closer to meeting our goal of offering vaccinations to all those seeking them.
"We are vaccinating those at the margins of our society, those bringing new life into our communities and those living in the most vulnerable parts of our global community.
"These are significant achievements for our nation, illustrating what is best about our country and public service in Ireland."
Mr Donnelly said that there are no plans to shorten the timeframe between doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine below the 12 weeks currently provided.
Junior Health Minister Mary Butler told the Dáil that there was just one outbreak in a nursing home last week. Ms Butler said that 240 housebound people are still awaiting their first vaccination.