Q&A: What is going on with Ireland's slow vaccine rollout?

The biggest delay for the vaccine roll-out has been blamed on changes to deliveries and the vaccine priority lists. File picture: Larry Cummins

Ireland’s vaccine rollout has been criticised for being too slow.

But what have the problems been? Here we look at some of the answers.

What has caused the delay?

The biggest delay for the vaccine roll-out has been blamed on delivery delays.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said delays securing scheduled deliveries of AstraZeneca jabs were hampering efforts to roll out vaccinations.

“There’s no question the repeated revisions from AstraZeneca are very frustrating for Ireland and right across the EU,” he told RTÉ.

Ireland is part of the EU’s coordinated purchase agreement, but the bloc has been particularly upset by AstraZeneca.

The company is delivering far fewer doses to the bloc than it promised. Of the initial order for 80 million doses first quarter this year, the company will be struggling to deliver half that quantity.

What does the delay mean?

The delay means that the target of having 1.7m doses delivered by the end of March now won’t happen.

HSE chief Paul Reid said that it was likely that the country will have 1.1million vaccines by the end of the month.

Mr Reid said that a revised target of 1.24m could also be missed if erratic supplies continue from vaccine manufacturers.

Around 175,000 doses scheduled for delivery in the first quarter will only arrive at the very end of March.

"Our first quarter has been an experience of high levels of frustration on supply issues, to be frank, from the HSE's perspective," Mr Reid told the Oireachtas health committee yesterday.

The vaccine roll-our plan has so far changed 17 times already due to the delays and changes to the vaccine priority lists.

However, in good news, the EU announced it has reached an agreement with Pfizer for the supply of four million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines for EU countries in the next two weeks.

We have reached an agreement with BioNTech-Pfizer for the supply of four million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines for EU countries in the next two weeks.

This will help tackle coronavirus hotspots and facilitate free border movement. #StrongerTogether

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) March 10, 2021

Ireland could receive 44,000 extra doses of the vaccine under the deal.

What changes were made to the vaccine priority list?

Last month, the vaccine priority list was changed.

People who are aged between 16 and 69 who are deemed to be high risk have been moved up the list.

This group will fall in the fourth cohort.

The first two cohorts - people aged 65 and older who live in long-term care facilities and frontline healthcare workers - have been completed.

Cohort three - people over the age of 70 - is currently underway, beginning with those over the age of 85.

How many people have been vaccinated so far?

According to Nphet, 523,069 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland as of March 6.

Some 373,149 people have received their first dose while149,920 have got their second jab.

And how does that compare with the rest of Europe?

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Ireland ranks well in vaccine uptake for the first dose.

9.2% of Irish adults have taken the first does, ranking only below Malta (13.5%), Denmark (10.6%) and Cyprus (9.7%).

The ECDC said that 53,509,380 doses have been distributed to EU states with 38,468,515 being administered.

And what about the UK?

In the UK, around 22.5 million people have had one vaccine does with more than one million have had a second, according to the BBC.

In the North, close to 600,000 people have been vaccinated, with the country set to surpass the number today.

Can doses be spread out to give more people the first jab?

All three vaccines approved for Ireland require a second dose.

Currently, both doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are to be delivered within 28 days, but there is growing evidence that this period can be stretched out.

The doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine can be delivered 84 days apart.

The UK prioritised the first dose in January in an attempt to reach as many people as possible.

HSE chief clinical officer, Dr Colm Henry, said today that the National Immunisation Advisory Committee will continue to review the timeframe between delivering the first and second doses of Covid-19 vaccines.

Dr Henry explained that part of the distribution difficulties being experienced at present was because originally the vaccine rollout had been planned using the more easily transported AstraZeneca vaccine.

What about other vaccines?

As Ireland is part of the EU’s coordinated purchase agreement, only EMA approved vaccines can be used.

So far, the Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines are the only ones that have been approved.

A decision is expected from the EMA this week on approval for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, while the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is under a “rolling review”.

And what’s all this about a vaccine bonus?

A ‘vaccine bonus’ has been mooted, essentially meaning that people who have been fully vaccinated could face less stringent restrictions.

Nphet might look like, and plans to make recommendations to the Government in the coming weeks.

In America, the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) issued new guidance saying people are allowed to meet other vaccinated people indoors, without a mask or social distancing.

The CDC also said they do not need to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of a positive case, unless they have symptoms or live in a group setting.

Dr Ronan Glynn, deputy chief medical officer, said the situation in the US is being monitored closely.