Covid vaccinations in Ireland will likely get underway on December 29 a day earlier than originally planned, HSE chief Paul Reid has said .
Pressure has been mounting on the Irish health service to start inoculations straight away after the first doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine arrived here on St Stephen’s Day.
However inoculations will not start until later this week, as Mr Reid said that “some” vaccinations will take place on Tuesday.
Speaking on RTE’s This Week programme he said: “My expectation is we will get some vaccinations done on the 29th which would be on the Tuesday.
Mr Reid said the plan was to start vaccinating people in nursing homes across the country over an initial three week period before giving them a second dose over the following three weeks.
Priority groups in the healthcare system are also first in line for the jab before they move on to the wider population.
He said: “We are dealing with an elderly population, we want to do this right, we want to build confidence and we want to ensure a very strong take up of the vaccine.
“Safety is our primary driver and we will be rolling it out at pace but we will be doing it safely.”
When asked as to why the vaccine was not being administered over the weekend Mr Reid said there was a “complex consent process” with regard to the elderly and vulnerable.
“Nobody wants to get this going quicker than myself and the HSE.”
Giving further details on the rollout plan Mr Reid said that training schedule was in place focusing on “community vaccinators who will be mobilising into the nursing homes”.
He added there is currently around 180 community vaccinators who will give the jab in nursing homes and around 1,500 vaccinators throughout Irish hospitals.
“There’s an updated training that has to be deployed. This is not just a simple a process like any other injection. There are safety protocols that have to go with it. Then we will be rolling out to other elements of the workforce including GPs and pharmacies.”
The news of the vaccine rollout comes as Ireland saw its highest number of Covid cases since the pandemic began over the weekend.
Speaking on the rise in cases Reid urged people to limit their contacts over the next couple of weeks.
He said: "They are very concerning numbers that we have seen over the past week, particularly in the last three to four days.
“What we’re also seeing in the community is a high positivity level.
“Equally concerning is the numbers of contacts that people have we’re seeing it move from an average of 2.5 to 3 to over five at the moment.
He added that testing and tracing volumes were now at “alarming levels” saying highest daily tests were now at 23,000.
“My call to the public particularly as we head into the New Year is to really take the right appropriate actions to reduce contacts that you will have in the next few days because the virus is transmitting at a very concerning level.”
“The public can help the system not to become overwhelmed by reducing their contacts. We are calling on people to play their part in reducing transmission.”
Mr Reid said “we did predict there would be more people meeting over Christmas ... people have had a really tough year” admitting he knows it is “hard” for the public to hear him asking them to reduce their contacts during the festive period.
Meanwhile Tanaiste Leo Varadkar admitted that Ireland is rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine at a slower pace than other countries - but insisted it will catch up.
Leo Varadkar admitted he “wasn’t sure” why there is a delay, despite many other European countries beginning their vaccine programme on Sunday.
The Tanaiste told Newstalk: “I’m not 100% sure but I am told it takes a couple of days to organise things,”
“I think we will have started a bit slower but catch up. We are part of the European system and get 1.11% of the vaccine and that’s in proportion with our population.
“We will start a little bit slower than other countries but we will catch up, I don’t see it as a race, I think it’s important that we do it right.
“We anticipate the Moderna vaccine will be approved on January 6, so that will bring additionality.
“There seems to be good chance that the AstraZeneca will by approved by the end of January and that’s particularly important because we have pre-ordered a huge number of them, more so than we did for Pfizer and that doesn’t require deep cold chain, that’s a more normal vaccine.”
