Ireland could soon be able to offer four different vaccines – a scenario that would allow the country speed up the rollout of the Covid-19 jab, according to one hopeful MEP.
Deirdre Clune, a Fine Gael MEP, says the European Union will make sure vaccines are available at an "abundant level" by the second quarter of 2021, as negotiators work with drug company Johnson & Johnson ahead of the release of its coronavirus shot.
Ireland currently has access to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines – but the Oxford/AstraZeneca and J&J jabs could get approval from the European Medicines Agency very soon.
This, according to Ms Clune, will mean many more doses of the miracle drug are available by the second quarter of 2021 – boosting hopes that we could have mass inoculation sooner than expected.
Johnson & Johnson, a US pharmaceutical firm with premises in Ireland, is hoping to apply for EMA approval by February, according to a top EU official.
Meanwhile, the EMA is set to decide by the end of January whether to grant approval to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab – which doesn't need to be stored at the same freezing cold temperatures needed by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Ms Clune said Ireland is likely to get access to bigger quantities of vaccinations in April, May and June of this year.
"In this week’s [Environment, Public Health and Food Safety] committee we had the opportunity to put questions forward to the EU’s lead negotiator on Covid-19 vaccine contracts, on the latest developments regarding contracts, transparency, authorisations, availability and deployment of Covid-19 vaccines," she said.
"We heard that there will be an ‘abundant level’ of vaccines to be made available in the second quarter of this year, which I very much welcome.
"In Ireland, we're at the important stage of vaccinating the most vulnerable members of our society and with time vaccinations will become available for all who wish to be vaccinated."
