DON’T MAKE any summer plans just yet.
Because, according to one top doctor, it could be up to nine months before everyone in Ireland is vaccinated against Covid-19.
The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine that is already being rolled out in the UK is expected to be approved by the European health authorities later this month.
Under that timeframe, Ireland’s most vulnerable could begin receiving the jab in January.
Dr Nuala O’Connor, from the Irish College of General Practitioners, told Newstalk Breakfast: “Hopefully by the end of the second or third week of January we’ll be starting to offer immunisation to the most vulnerable in our society.”
However, she warned that it could take some time before the entire “eligible population” receives the jab.
“There’s going to be a suite of options, but it’s not all going to happen in January, this is going to take six to nine months for us to be able to offer vaccinations to all the eligible population.”
The European Medicines Agency is expected to approve the Pfizer vaccine on December 29, according to Dr O’Connor - but the jab is only the beginning.
“Our government has organised advanced purchase agreements for this and for several other vaccines,” the Cork GP explained.
Despite the renewed focus on the vaccine, Dr O’Connor insisted the jab “is just one element of the toolbox” in combating he spread of Covid-19.
“Until 70% of the country is vaccinated, the key things that we’ve been telling people, particularly in the run-up to Christmas...we need people to stay at home if they develop symptoms.” she said.
“It’s going to be quite some time before a sufficient amount of the population has been vaccinated.
“The virus is still out there, we didn’t get the numbers down low enough.”
With more vaccines on the horizon, she called on the public to remain patient with the process and stick to the rules in place.
Dr O’Connor said: “We need to allow time for the regulators including, the worldwide and European regulators and our own regulators, the Health Products Regulatory Authority, to do all their due diligence to make sure they are happy for this vaccine to roll out.
“It’s fantastic now that we just heard that the FDA in the US has approved the Pfizer vaccine, so that’s good news.”
The Government is set to detail its plan for the vaccine rollout in a meeting of the Cabinet this coming Tuesday.
It is likely that doses will be administered through a mix of clinics, GPS and pharmacies.
See More: Coronavirus, Covid-19, Lockdown, Vaccine
