Anyone who refuses AZ jab will go to ‘back of queue’ for vaccine

Nurse Joan Love with AstraZeneca at the HSE Vaccination Centre in the Aviva Stadium. Picture: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

Anyone who refuses an AstraZeneca vaccine will have to wait until the entire population is vaccinated to be offered an alternative, the Tánaiste and foreign affairs minister have separately warned.

Leo Varadkar also said vaccinated people could be able to travel freely in the EU within months, but he has cautioned that travel in the future will be different.

However, he also warned that anyone who did not take up the offer of a vaccine would be put back to the end of the queue.

"They would have to wait until the end, and it's not possible to know when the end would be but it wouldn't be June or July, it would be later than that.

The best option is the vaccine that's offered to you, and all the vaccines are effective and they're safe for the age groups they're indicated for

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney echoed the Tánaiste, saying anyone who decides not to take the AstraZeneca vaccine is “putting themselves to the back of the queue.” 

Vaccines are safe, he told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show, and the benefits far outweighed the risks. 

Nobody can force anyone to take anything. The more people who get vaccinated, the safer the country would be and the quicker restrictions would be eased, he added. 

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the promise to have offered a vaccine to 80% of adults before the end of June was "as a solid as it can be". Picture: Julien Behal

However, he acknowledged that there would be “bumps” along the way as issues arose and there would be a need to “recalibrate.” 

The Government had to follow public health advice, he added. Irish people have responded very positively and people should trust the system, he urged.

Mr Coveney explained that decisions were being made by public health experts, not politicians.

The safest thing for people to do was to say yes to whichever vaccine was being offered, he said. 

The minister warned if people were allowed to pick and choose, the vaccine rollout would not proceed at the pace needed.

Mr Varadkar said the promise to have offered a vaccine to 80% of adults before the end of June was "as a solid as it can be" and he said he was "confident" that this target would be met.

Turning to the issue of travel, the Tánaiste suggested that fully vaccinated people would soon be able to take a foreign trip.

"The European Union is developing a green cert, and we could see within months, people being able to travel again freely within the European Union, if they're fully vaccinated," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.

Mr Varadkar said some people would now circumvent mandatory quarantining by flying in via Belfast.