Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

THREE QUARTERS OF people believe they are likely to accept a Covid-19 vaccine, the deputy chief medical officer said.

Ronan Glynn said the country was on the cusp of deploying two vaccines if they are authorised by the European Medicines Agency.

He said: “People should take great encouragement from these developments and we can be confident that the successful implementation of this programme will mark a significant advance in our approach to this pandemic.

However, there are still many uncertainties and barriers to be overcome.

He said people needed to be willing to be vaccinated.

“Our research tells us that the majority have already decided that they will definitely (45%) or probably (28%) take the vaccine when it is offered to them,” he added.

He said: “I encourage every individual, those vaccine hesitant as well as those vaccine confident, to stay informed using appropriate medical sources and do not be afraid to ask your GP questions about vaccine safety.”

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He said the timeline for development of Covid-19 jabs had been significantly cut down due to:

Some clinical trials combining phases 1 and 2 to assess safety and the immune responses;

• The high number of new cases of Covid-19 in many places, differences in disease risk between those who received the viral vaccine and those who received the placebo or dummy vaccine could be measured more quickly than usual;
• Enormous levels of investment and scientific research, on a scale never previously seen in vaccine development;
• Many of the processes which normally take place one after the other in vaccine development have been run in parallel.

Dr Glynn added: “None of these factors imply that safety, scientific or ethical integrity have been compromised, or that short-cuts have been made.”