Ireland buys 1m Covid vaccine doses from Romania (2024)

Ireland’s vaccination programme has received a significant boost after the government secured an additional one million doses and announced that pharmacies would administer vaccines to the youngest cohort of adults from Monday.

It follows a dramatic week that began with the postponement of plans to reopen indoor dining next week and grim projections about a fourth wave of the coronavirus, as Ireland passed 5,000 Covid-19 deaths.

Micheál Martin, the taoiseach, yesterday agreed a deal in principle with Klaus Iohannis, the president of Romania, to buy one million surplus vaccines, which are understood to be Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Romania has one of the lowest rates of vaccine update in Europe. A spokeswoman for the taoiseach said the process was “yet to be completed”.

Aoife McLysaght, professor of molecular evolution at Trinity College Dublin, said the additional vaccines were welcome news but that the government should also prioritise contact tracing and creating air quality standards to ensure sufficient ventilation indoors as restrictions were eased.

“It is really good news for us but bad news overall,” McLysaght said, referring to the low uptake rate in Romania. “It’s great to get as many people vaccinated but vaccines are not the only thing we could be doing.”

Earlier, Stephen Donnelly, the health minister, said that people aged 18 to 34 could receive a vaccine up to two months ahead of schedule in an effort to slow the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant.

The decision to make the Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca shots available to younger cohorts was made after updated advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) that both vaccines can be given to people under 40.

The vaccination programme will allow people aged 18 to 34 to “opt-in” to get the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine at more than 700 pharmacies from Monday. Donnelly said this age group could also register through the vaccine portal to receive the AstraZeneca shot at a vaccination centre from July 12.

“We now have a significant acceleration of the vaccine programme,” Donnelly told the Dail yesterday, adding that Ireland was due to receive more than 200,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines and at least 100,000 AstraZeneca shots this month.

“To be able to pull forward a huge number of people from September to August, and some from August into July, is incredibly valuable,” he said. “It’s really going to help us protecting each other, and protect our population from the Delta surge that we know is coming.”

The more transmissible Delta variant, first identified in India, accounts for about 70 per cent of new cases in Ireland. In the UK, cases of the Delta variant have surged almost four-fold in less than a month and make up about 95 per cent of confirmed cases. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has said the Delta strain could account for nine in every ten new infections in Europe by the end of next month.

Dr Tony Holohan, the chief medical officer, said he expected a “significant wave of Delta transmission” in the coming weeks. Health officials said this would peak in September, with increased hospitalisations and deaths. “It’s a question of when, rather than if,” Holohan said.

The Irish Pharmacy Union, which has been pushing for pharmacists to play a more active role in the vaccination programme, said it was “delighted” that people aged 18 to 34 could be vaccinated in pharmacies from next week.

The HSE said 60,000 doses had been allocated to about 700 pharmacies. It said 7,000 doses had been used for people aged over 50, with a further 70,000 doses available to pharmacies if needed. People can contact a participating pharmacy to book an appointment.

Johnson & Johnson said this week that new data showed its vaccine provided “durable protection” against the Delta variant, with an immune response lasting at least eight months.

About 45 per cent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated and two in three adults have received their first dose, Donnelly said. He also said peopled aged 60 to 69 would receive their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine within the next two weeks. The online registration portal will open for people aged 30 to 34 next week.

The government has asked Niac to give advice on vaccinating children, particularly those with underlying health conditions. Martin said yesterday that Europe was preparing to rollout vaccines to children next year and that he hoped to receive expert advice quickly.

The Department of Health yesterday reported 512 new cases of the virus. It said there were 46 people in hospital, including 14 in intensive care units. Dublin recorded 216 new cases, Donegal 26, Kildare 21, and Limerick 20.