Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has told the Dáil this morning that there are “serious concerns” about the supply of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) Covid- 19 vaccine.
He said the country was scheduled to receive 600,000 doses of the J&J vaccine by the end of June, but the best-case scenario was that there would be 235,000 vaccines and a worst-case scenario was that there would be 60,000. Minister Donnelly said there were also concerns about the supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine. He was responding to Sinn Féin David Cullinane, who said it was “unacceptable” that the J&J vaccine target would not be met. Deputy Cullinane had questioned the Minister on the Government’s ability to meet its target of giving the first vaccine to 80% of the adult population by the end of June.
Mr Donnelly said it was unclear whether this target would be met. However, he confirmed that half of the adult population will have received at least a first dose by the end of this week. Meanwhile, people aged 45 to 49 started to register for vaccine appointments over a week ago, while those aged 40 to 44 will be able to do so from the middle of next week. Problems with vaccine supply are now likely to cause delays in the issuing of appointments.
For updated and factual Public Health information and advice on COVID-19 Coronavirus, please visit hse.ie/coronavirus or call 1800 700 700
For the latest information on the Covid-19 Vaccine Programme, please visit hse.ie/covid-19-vaccine
