'Significant acceleration' of vaccine programme will avoid waste

Those under 35 can now opt-in to receive a one-shot Janssen vaccine in participating pharmacies from the beginning of next week

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly announced that from July 12, people between the ages of 18 and 34 will also be able to register with the HSE for an appointment in a vaccination centre.  Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Younger people will be able to avail of Covid vaccines in pharmacies from Monday, but will have to wait longer if they want an mNRA jab.

As part of a "significant acceleration" of the vaccination programme, people under 35 can now opt-in to receive a one-shot Janssen vaccine which will be administered in 750 pharmacies across the country from the beginning of next week.

From July 12, people between the ages of 18 and 34 will also be able to register with the HSE for an appointment in a vaccination centre for an AstraZeneca vaccine and some limited supplies of Janssen, which is up to two months earlier than they would otherwise get an mRNA vaccine.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said people in these age groups can still choose to wait for an mRNA vaccine, but those between 25-29 will not get their first dose until early August and for 18-25-year-olds vaccination will begin from mid-August.

Mr Donnelly said: "So anyone in that group who is thinking: 'Okay I'll be scheduled for an mRNA vaccine but I now have the option of Janssen or AstraZeneca earlier, do I want to take that?' Those dates are now important."

It had been previously recommended that AstraZeneca and Janssen not be given to people under the age of 40, due to the risk of very rare blood clots, however, this advice has now been changed due to the threat of the Delta variant.

Boxes of Janssen vaccines. As part of a "significant acceleration" of the vaccination programme, people under 35 can now opt-in to receive a one-shot Janssen vaccine Picture: Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP

Consent mechanisms will be put in place by the HSE to ensure that anyone under 35 years of age wishing to avail of earlier access to vaccination through the administration of an AstraZeneca or Janssen vaccine is appropriately informed of the rare side-effects associated with these vaccines.

Mr Donnelly told the Dáil that doses of the Janssen and AstraZeneca vaccine will be somewhat limited during July, but it is expected that supplies will be able to accommodate a significant number of this age group this month.

"I was determined that pharmacists would play an increasing role in this programme, and I’d like to extend my gratitude to them for their work in recent days to make this happen," he said.

"Without this change what was going to happen was we were going to be left with supplies of Janssen and supplies of AstraZeneca, incredibly effective vaccines, and we wouldn't have been able to use them because everyone over 40 would have already been vaccinated."

He thanked people for their "enthusiasm" in relation to the vaccination programme and said almost 4.2 million doses have now been administered.

"More than two in every three adults have received at least one vaccine dose and at 45%, nearly one adult in every two is now fully vaccinated."

The minister said, as a country, we will be forever indebted to our healthcare workers and frontline staff.

However, Mr Donnelly said he wanted to put on the record of the Dáil how "disappointed and uncomfortable" he has been with "some of the public commentary and the online vitriol" which has been directed at senior figures of Nphet following their recommendation that the reopening of indoor hospitality be paused.