Ireland AZ over 60s only.

[anyoldtime]

It’s being reported that Ireland is going to give AZ to over 60s only. Expected announcement at 7.30pm this evening.

200K have already been vaccinated with it and while it was paused, it then resumed although they knew there were issues surrounding it when it was resumed.

I’m pleased they are being responsible but a bit late for the 200K already injected...,!

The decision is not going to delay the vaccine rollout in Ireland.

That’s utter bollocks. Of course it will. Looking at the numbers, virtually every single person in the 60-69 cohort has to take their AZ doses to avoid any wastage. Like hell will that happen.

And I can’t wait for the inevitable hitches in the J&J supply to hit us in a few weeks.

And then NPHET will play every card they can to keep us locked down over the summer,

Thankfully I’ve family in NI. I’ll be up there.

@kissmelittleass, surprised to hear that your son has already had the vaccine. At 18 he must be pre-med/1st med. is he actually having patient contact?

[quote IrishMamaMia]@Evanna13 several news outlets including The Times, Irish edition, are reporting that the 80 per cent figure is likely to be pushed back to August.[/quote]
I have not seen this but only time will tell I guess. I know acting CMO Dr. Ronan Glynn has said it will have minimal impact on rollout.

@anyoldtime my point was that it's perhaps easier for countries to cite issues with vaccine safety to blame a slow vaccine rollout than admit they just don't have enough stock. Not saying that's the case with Ireland, I don't really know what's going on in Ireland tbh and this thread is the first I've seen about what is actually happening there.

A PP also mentioned this being done from an 'abundance of caution'- it just doesn't make sense to me. I think the reason an alternative vaccine has been offered to under 30s in the UK is purely because our government wants to get things back to normal ASAP, to reduce the likelihood of variants, honestly there are so many worse things to be concerned about with this virus than the tiny risk of blood clots. People really do need to start looking at the actual level of risk now, it's becoming ridiculous.

Why are people making out like there's no issue with AstraZeneca?

19 people in the UK have died from clots associated with this vaccine. As the UK roll out moves down through the ages, this number will unfortunately rise. More people survive but suffer ill effects.

The UK is willing to accept this trade off given their covid situation and their reliance on the AstraZeneca vaccine. Other countries don't have to do that because they have a different mix of supply and they can wait for more data.

Other countries don't have to do that because they have a different mix of supply and they can wait for more data.

That’s not true of Ireland though. AZ is a very important part of our vaccine portfolio. We’ve been in lockdown longer than the U.K. with no real sign of let up.

If you’re talking about Australia, sure.

@Cherrycee I guess we just shouldn't use any vaccine that has any risk level whatsoever then. You know, like the flu vaccine, childhood vaccinations. Or any medication that has side effects. Surgery for any conditions.

Far more people are going to die from
Coronavirus whilst waiting for other vaccines when there is a perfectly safe vaccine that could be used.

I think it's also at the point in Ireland where the health risks of being in long term lockdown are likely to be higher and worse than the side effects of AZ.
It needs strong political leadership to get this across which sadly is lacking.

@TheKeatingFive

Other countries don't have to do that because they have a different mix of supply and they can wait for more data.

That’s not true of Ireland though. AZ is a very important part of our vaccine portfolio. We’ve been in lockdown longer than the U.K. with no real sign of let up.

If you’re talking about Australia, sure.

AZ makes up 20% of Irelands portfolio so YES we CAN do this.

That’s not true of Ireland though. AZ is a very important part of our vaccine portfolio. We’ve been in lockdown longer than the U.K. with no real sign of let up.

It's one fifth of our supply. Ronan Glynn has said that this will not unduly delay the rollout. It's a scheduling issue.

Let's see what the HSE come up with before proclaiming this a disaster.

'abundance of caution' Tbh I presume using terms like this is an attempt not to alarm people.

[quote StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind]@Cherrycee I guess we just shouldn't use any vaccine that has any risk level whatsoever then. You know, like the flu vaccine, childhood vaccinations. Or any medication that has side effects. Surgery for any conditions.

Far more people are going to die from
Coronavirus whilst waiting for other vaccines when there is a perfectly safe vaccine that could be used. [/quote]
When there is a safer alternative vaccine available it makes sense to use that instead.
Ireland have alternative vaccines which are proven to be safer for under 60s so they are using them for under 60s .
If they did not have any other vaccines then of course it would be silly to not give AZ to under 60s.

The HSE seem to have cancelled all jab clinics today. I hope they use the time wisely to reorganise.

@StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind

You realise we haven't suspended AstraZeneca, it is just being directed to a particular age group? We have the ability to do this because 80% of our supply is made up of other vaccines.

The clotting issue is rare, but it's clear that the risk is highest for younger people. This was laid out very clearly in MHRA briefing last week. So why on earth shouldn't Ireland direct the other vaccines to younger people, given that we have the supply to do so? It's the responsible thing to do.

Why does it matter so much to you if it doesn't affect you? It's not a criticism of the UK's choices.

It's one fifth of our supply. Ronan Glynn has said that this will not unduly delay the rollout. It's a scheduling issue.

Well that’s pretty significant, given we’re supposed to be in a ‘ramping up’ phase and Varadkar promised first doses to 80% of adults by June. Do we really think that’s going to happen? No matter what Glynn says? Don’t be foolish.

@IrishMamaMia

The HSE seem to have cancelled all jab clinics today. I hope they use the time wisely to reorganise.

They have cancelled AZ clinics.

The HSE seem to have cancelled all jab clinics today. I hope they use the time wisely to reorganise.

Sure they will 😳

AZ makes up 20% of Irelands portfolio so YES we CAN do this.

Based on ... what!?

Like I say, we need 100% take up in 60-69 to ensure no estate. That is not going to happen.

Yeah fair enough @Evanna13 if it were the case that there's a huge amount of supply of other vaccines but as @TheKeatingFive that's highly doubtful.

I wonder why if the AZ really is so terribly dangerous the EU and Ursula Von Der Leyen was threatening a ban on vaccine exports (principally to the UK)? 🤔 none of their behaviour makes much sense- I mean if no one else wants AZ then please send it over here- thankfully most within the UK would be delighted to have it!

No wastage

@TheKeatingFive I'm not very hopeful about it but will watch from the UK and hope things get back on track.

It’s worth mentioning that we’re heavily dependent now on J&J, which, while I hope materialises without hitch, I don’t think we’ve received a single dose yet.

Why does it matter so much to you if it doesn't affect you? It's not a criticism of the UK's choices.

Doesn't matter to me at all quite frankly, I'm glad to be living in the country which despite all its other monumental cock-ups wrt the pandemic has done a pretty good job of its vaccine rollout, and also has enough common sense to see that for all age groups over 30 the benefits of the vaccine are great, and the risks of contracting coronavirus are far greater than the minuscule risk of the AZ vaccine.

@StrawberryLipstickStateOfMind

Yeah fair enough *@Evanna13 if it were the case that there's a huge amount of supply of other vaccines but as @TheKeatingFive* that's highly doubtful.

I wonder why if the AZ really is so terribly dangerous the EU and Ursula Von Der Leyen was threatening a ban on vaccine exports (principally to the UK)? 🤔 none of their behaviour makes much sense- I mean if no one else wants AZ then please send it over here- thankfully most within the UK would be delighted to have it!

Ireland actually does have the alternative supply. There is a poster here who likes to spout negativity without the facts unfortunately.

I have not said AZ is terribly dangerous. In fact I have said I would happily take it. I know the risks are minimal. However I would prefer Pfizer or Moderna because the risks are even smaller for my age (late 30s). When we have a variety of options here it makes sense to distribute them in the safest way possible.

I would love if we had a huge supply of AZ here like the UK have and we had 2/3 of our population vaccinated with it. But we don't. We have to work with the supply we have and distribute it in the safest way possible.

I think some of the posters here really need to watch the briefing from last night. Most of the questions raised here were addressed.