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Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has described Tánaiste Leo Varadkar’s comments on the numbers who could be vaccinated by June as “very ambitious”.
Mr Varadkar, according to sources present, told Wednesday’s Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting that everyone who wants a Covid-19 vaccine appointment could be offered one by the end of June. His expectation was based on a view that around 15 per cent of the population would not seek a jab.
Asked about the report on Thursday, Mr Donnelly said he hoped the Government could “deliver on that”.
“If the vaccines that have been ordered are delivered on time then by June four out of every five people who were entitled to the vaccine will have been vaccinated. The latest analysis of figures was that everyone would have been vaccinated by September,” he told Newstalk’s Pat Kenny programme.
The Government has set a target of offering or administering a vaccine to 82 per cent of the population by the end of June. As of Monday, some 35.2 per cent (1.37 million) of people aged over 16 had received a first shot, with more than 506,000 people having received both.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he had been told by the HSE that the State was likely to pass the mark of 2 million vaccines being administered today.
“Another important milestone in our rollout – and tribute to the dedication of vaccines teams up and down the country,” he said in a Twitter post.
Hesitancy
When asked about vaccine hesitancy, Mr Donnelly said that the most recent research indicated that 70 per cent of people would ‘definitely’ take the vaccine and 16 per cent ‘probably’ would, which by international standards was “very strong”. An EU-wide survey published on Thursday shows people in Ireland are the most willing in the bloc to take the vaccine.
The Irish Times reported on Thursday that senior Government and health officials expect the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) to this week clear the way for the use of the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines for people under 50.
A further eight Covid-19 related deaths and 448 cases were reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team on Wednesday. The number of people in hospital with the disease is down to 111 with 34 being treated in intensive care units.
Incidence rates
The latest figures show that Donegal, which had the highest incidence of the disease in the State for some time, has been overtaken by Kildare as the county with the highest number of new cases per capita.
The 14-day incidence rate in Kildare stands at 251.7 infections per 100,000 people, which is almost double the national average of 129.7. Donegal has the second highest rate at 240.6 followed by Dublin at 198.2
Mr Donnelly said the response from local communities in Donegal had been “strong” and that indicators suggested the rate of infection would continue to fall there.
He also paid tribute to all members of the Oireachtas for their response to the pandemic. Although there were some who were “hedging their bets”, he said he appreciated the support of colleagues from across the political spectrum.
On the issue of differing responses by hospital maternity units to allowing partners attending ante-natal appointments and be present in labour wards, the Minister said 14 of the 19 maternity units in the country were complying with the instruction that partners should be allow attend, but there were five units were local reasons meant that such facilities could not be allowed.
Safety first
These were in Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, St Luke’s in Kilkenny and Letterkenny. He safety should come first, he said.
He also defended his position on antigen testing and denied that he was supporting the sale of them while dismissing their efficacy. He said rapid testing had a role to play in emerging from Covid-19 restrictions.
“I’m not saying they are useless,” he said of the tests, the sale of which in supermarkets has been criticised by some Nphet members.
However, Mr Donnelly pointed out that while there was a danger that people with a negative result would think they were not infectious, if the test results were positive then antigen testing could prevent super spreader events.