Professor Luke O'Neill has blasted a situation involving Ireland's vaccination rollout programme which has seen medically vulnerable people waiting on a second jab while those who are at less risk have been given two.
Until recently, anyone who had been given a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine as their first dose had to wait 12 weeks for a second.
That was brought down to eight - but that is still twice as long as anyone who got a Pfizer vaccination would have to wait (four weeks).
This has resulted in those who are medically vulnerable potentially being left waiting and watching others who are at less risk of serious disease get fully vaccinated in the meantime.
And speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk this afternoon, Professor O'Neill blasted the situation as 'perverse'.
He said: "It is ridiculous. It is perverse now that we have people who are vulnerable who aren’t fully vaccinated and there are people who are less vulnerable who are. That is a real disconnect, I think.
“The second thing that would worry me I think would be the four-week thing. You know they have said if you have had AstraZeneca - your first shot - four weeks later you can begin to benefit from the vaccine bonus.
“Now that Delta is here, that has changed because that single shot still puts you at risk of catching the Delta form so again, they should change these guidelines in the face of Delta really.
“The whole thing has changed really in many ways because of Delta so we are all hoping NIAC (National Immunisation Advisory Committee) might give an opinion on this because it is a serious issue right now.”
