CMO urges people to get vaccinated as new covid variant spreads

Chief medical officer Professor Breda Smyth.

Chief medical officer Professor Breda Smyth has urged people to get vaccinated as health authorities say autumn booster vaccines are expected to be effective against new covid-19 variants.

A sub-variant of Omicron known as EG.5 or informally as Eris is circulating in Ireland with 94 cases identified up to August 15, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) said on Monday.

A vaccination campaign targeting covid-19 and the flu will roll out here in late September.

“As EG.5 and other currently circulating Omicron variants are related to the upcoming booster vaccine strain, there is expected to be good protection given by the booster,” the HPSC said.

They also advised while it appears to be increasing at a higher rate, that “it currently shows no evidence of causing more severe infection but people are still advised to follow covid-19 prevention measures.” 

Professor Smyth urged vaccination, saying a recent increase in cases is partly linked to the Eris variant.

“New sub-variants are not unexpected, this is normal behaviour for a virus,” she said. 

She added: “We see increased waves of covid-19 activity every few months, as new sub-variants emerge and they will continue to emerge, so we shouldn’t be alarmed by them.” 

Precautions

Prof Smyth advised people to take “sensible precautions” to protect against all respiratory infections, including taking antiviral treatments for covid-19 where appropriate.

“And remember vaccines protect us,” she said. “This autumn the new covid-19 booster programme and seasonal flu programme will provide free vaccines for eligible groups. I urge you to take this opportunity to protect yourselves, and those around you.” 

The HPSC also said another variant, BA.2.86, which is being monitored globally, including in the UK, has not yet been identified in Ireland. This is “not reported to be associated with increased growth rate or disease severity”, they said.

Analysis of variants in Ireland is supported by the National SARS-CoV-2 Whole Genome Sequencing Programme, the HPSC said.

During the first two weeks of August five people died with covid-19 in Ireland, bringing the pandemic death toll to 9,148 since early 2020.