Health service officials are concerned at the low uptake to date of second Covid-19 booster vaccines among at-risk groups, with only half of those eligible having received an additional dose to date.
A second booster shot — or fourth dose — is available for people aged 65 and older as well as the immunocompromised, given these groups are deemed to be more vulnerable to the disease.
Fewer than a third of people who are immunocompromised have received a second booster dose to date, according to a senior Health Service Executive (HSE) figure. Eileen Whelan, HSE national lead for the vaccination programme, described this relatively low take-up as a “concern”.
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac), which provides expert advice to the Government on vaccines, is considering recommending a wider rollout of second booster doses. There were 885 people with the disease in hospital on Monday, an increase of 59 from Sunday’s total.
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Ms Whelan said one potential reason for the lower uptake of second booster shots was that people did not have the same “fear” of Covid-19 as before. Another issue was that larger vaccination centres had been scaled back, with just 15 operating at present, she said.
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The State is facing a summer wave of Covid-19 and the disease is circulating widely across the entire population and not just younger generations, she said. “We’re seeing high positivity rates across all age groups,” she said.
Vulnerable people who have received a booster vaccine would be better protected and less likely to become severely ill, she added.
The fact that people needed one booster vaccine to travel in the European Union was a “bigger driver than anything” of people seeking to receive the initial extra dose, Ms Whelan said. More than 77 per cent of people have received one booster shot, which is available to all adults.
Speaking earlier on Monday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin suggested a second booster vaccine for the wider population would be the “key weapon” to fight Covid-19 later this year. He told reporters in Dublin that the country is in a “disruptive phase” of the pandemic, which is impacting on hospital services as well as resulting in flights being cancelled due to airline staff being out sick or isolating.
Mr Martin said it was a good thing that the latest variants of the disease are “not as virulent as they once were” but he urged people who qualify for a second booster to go get one. He said the Government would wait for Niac’s advice on whether or not to extend the second booster rollout to the wider population.
When asked if expected further Covid-19 restrictions might need to be brought in during the winter, he replied: “I’m not predicting because I just can’t predict with certainty what will happen. All that can predict is uncertainty.”
There has been contingency planning through legislation for the possibility that mandatory mask wearing would be brought back for public transport and shops to allow the Government to bring in such measures quickly if necessary. “We think we’ve moved out of the emergency phase,” Mr Martin said, adding that the public health advice was now focused on vaccination and personal responsibility.
