Irish Examiner view: Martin's Booster charge is unfair

Taoiseach’s assertion that people are not turning up for their booster Covid vaccines is at odds with the huge queues outside vaccination centres

There have been huge waiting times across the country for booster vaccines.

It is hard to square the Taoiseach’s assertion that people are not turning up for their booster Covid vaccines with the huge queues outside vaccination centres. The HSE used social media yesterday to warn of huge waiting times, from three hours at Punchestown Racecourse to Croke Park closing to walk-ins having reached capacity in the early evening.

This took place on the first day people over 50 who do not have underlying health conditions could receive a booster vaccination dose.

Rather than fret about people not turning up, based on incomplete or incorrect information, Micheál Martin should insist that the health service’s documentation system on vaccination is fit for purpose. People are being issued with booster appointments after they get booster vaccinations at their GPs or local pharmacy because of a glitch between the HSE’s vaccination database and the IT systems used by pharmacies and GPs. It is heartening to see people braving the cold for hours to receive a vaccine and people are rightly choosing the best way to get the jab as quickly as they can.