Covid-19: Situation stable and possibly improving, health officials say
Professor Philip Nolan, Chair of the Nphet Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group pictured this evening at a Covid-19 update press conference at the Department of Health. Picture: Stephen Collins
Discussions around the administering of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccination will continue “for some time”, the deputy chief medical officer has said, after a potential rare clotting incident was identified in the State.
On Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded that there was a possible link between the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and rare blood clots in the brain in people who have received the vaccine.
However, the EU regulatory agency still concluded that the overall benefits of this “highly effective vaccine in protecting recipients from severe Covid-19 disease, hospitalisation and death outweigh the risks of this very rare event".
Speaking at a press briefing this evening, Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, said the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) had met and discussed the latest developments, but had not yet issued a recommendation.
“Those discussions are continuing,” he said. "Those deliberations and considerations will go on for some time."
Irish authorities are communicating with their EU counterparts and Niac will likely meet again on Friday, he added.
In a statement today, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) confirmed it received a “case of interest”, associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which describes cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST).
“We are following up on this report to obtain additional details and to evaluate if it is consistent with the profile of rare blood clotting events that were the focus of the recently concluded EMA safety review,” the statement said.
“This report will be notified to the EU's safety database and will be considered in the context of continuous monitoring coordinated by the EMA.
Meanwhile, Prof Philip Nolan, chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group, said the current situation is stable, and possibly improving.
Prof Nolan said the 5-day average now stands at 408, and the number of cases being confirmed each week is decreasing.
However, he warned that the situation is still “quite uncertain” as a result of the Easter weekend, and it will be another week to 10 days before we see the impact of that.
Prof Nolan said a public health investigation had been carried out on the safety of schools, which found they continue to be “relatively low-risk environments”.
He said the first cause behind the increase in confirmed cases of the disease among school-aged children earlier this year was due to public health officials resuming the testing of asymptomatic close contacts.
The second increase was due to a five- to 10-fold increase in testing of this age group as a result of extra vigilance by parents, teachers and general practitioners, he added.
However, Prof Nolan said that "paradoxically" the reopening of schools tends to result in an increase in the number of members of the public returning to workplaces.
An additional seven deaths related to Covid-19 and 400 confirmed cases were reported to the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) today.
Of those deaths, two occurred in April, two occurred in March, and three occurred in February.
The median age of those who died was 78 years and the age range was between 62 and 69 years old.
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