Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE HSE FAILED to hit the Government’s target of administering 100,000 vaccine doses last week due to delivery issues with the AstraZeneca dose.
The aim was to administer 100,000 doses last week as Ireland’s vaccination programme ramps up but the AstraZeneca doses did not arrive in Ireland as planned.
The delays follow a change in AstraZeneca’s vaccine delivery schedule for last week and this week, something the State’s vaccination taskforce was informed of at “very late notice”, chair of the group Professor Brian MacCraith said on Sunday.
Professor MacCraith said the delay is “not a reduction in deliveries” and that the State can “recover completely what had been lost” from next weekend.
It’s understood the delay last week and this week will affect the delivery of 25,000 AstraZeneca doses in total.
The total number of doses administered last week was just over 81,000.
The Government had said the vaccination rollout would accelerate this month with 100,000 doses being administered per week in March, rising to between 200,000 and 300,000 doses per week in April.
Latest figures show that between Monday and Saturday last week, 78,465 vaccine doses had been administered. Of these, 70,627 of these were first doses and 7,383 were second doses.
A total of 435,895 vaccine doses have been administered in Ireland to date up to last Saturday.
Meanwhile, the target of vaccinating all over-85s by the end of this week is unlikely to be achieved, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has confirmed.
Donnelly said the “large majority of 85s and overs” will have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine by Sunday.
However, some who are housebound will have not received their vaccine yet, he said.
Donnelly also said that Ireland has pre-ordered 18.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, meaning that if a ‘booster’ shot is needed next winter, then it can be given as long as it is still effective against Covid-19 variants circulating at that time.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Last week I saw a lad heating up his own vaccine in a spoon in the North inner city, perhaps the government should ask him for his source?
@Ned Gerblansky: Only problem is, the side effects of that vaccine are :
- pupils like p-holes in the snow
- a constant yearning to say ‘howaryeah booood’
@Martin Galvin: perhaps €2 for D’Luas can be dispensed along with each dose?
It’s time to go it alone and purchase the vaccines.lets look after ourselves.the eu rollout is a joke
@Sparky: So you want us to go into a bidding war with 26 other countries, most of which are larger than us? We’d end up paying a lot more for a lot less.
In reality, the EU strategy – while not an unqualified success – has been remarkably fair and efficient and is far better than what we could have hoped to achieve “going it alone.”
@Derek Walsh: going it alone, no but I’d ask the question, if we were willing to pay, could we get extra doses ourself. going the way we’re going, id have no trust in government and will be an eternity before the % required are vaccinated.
@Sparky: Wow, great idea. I can’t wait to hear our cost and lead time.
@Sparky: Sure. Actually – why can’t I buy my own vaccines today? Why am I waiting for all these smelly old people to get vaccinated first when I can afford to pay for myself, Sorcha, Tarquin and the twins.
@Derek Walsh: How do we know we’d pay more when we don’t even ask ? It precisely that attitude that always leaves us at the back of the queue.
@Derek Walsh: So, it’s all about money now. They dont give a hoot about the citizens
@Derek Walsh: Derek the reality was the EU delayed and procrastinated for three months before they actually did something. As bad as the UK are, they were months ahead of the EU.
The EU also funded AZ for €300m and they roll out has been a fiasco. So no, they haven’t done a good job.
@Macca1986: meanwhile the germans are turning their noses up at the Astra vaccine and are not showing up to get it …
@Fred the Muss…: Not before lots and lots of UK citizens had to die before BJ got his head out of his backside! How easily people forget!
@Derek Walsh:
Nonsense!!!!! Absolute nonsense response.
@Sparky: talk to the NHS they have more than enough for the UK
@Derek Walsh: Denmark is the shining light of EU rollout, and they have supplemented their EU procured supply with extra bilateral purchases of spare vaccine from other countries. While I agree with you on the merits of the EU procurement strategy, it has fallen down with what it promised, and I see no reason why we too can’t try to supplement our supply. Germany & Hungary have also sourced other supplies.
@Sparky: 117000 doses of AZ a arrived in Thailand last Wednesday I read in the Thai newspapers and was sent the news item by Thai friends. But know this … Ireland always punches above its weight .. very important to remember that.
@Derek Walsh: we should have with the Childrens Hospital.
@Declan Doherty: If there were 27 countries in competition against each other for a limited number of products, they would each have less negotiating power than if they all worked together. How do we know? Really?
@Derek Walsh: The EU strategy is a joke. “don’t close borders because, muh, freedom of movement” in the middle of a flamin’ pandemic, coupled with a joke of a vaccine rollout. The EU is stuffed with failed politicians from all across Europe, it’s no surprise that we are where we are.
@Sparky: my comment linking the Examiner report on number of AZ vaccines delivered and the HSEs own numbers on vaccine administered and pointing out the discrepancy and it’s relationship to this story gets deleted. Meanwhile the issue of vaccine appointments being cancelled for the over 85s is openly discussed on Joe Duffy..
@Derek Walsh: We should have been purchasing additional vaccines to supplement our EU supply and you’re correct, how would we know when we don’t even bother asking. It’s shameful at this point.
Austria and Denmark announced a pact with Israel, and Slovakia received its first shipment of doses from Russia.
Poland is also in talks to follow Hungary in acquiring China’s Sinopharm vaccine and several other countries are preparing to make their own arrangements amid frustration at the slow pace of distribution across the bloc.
@artur fil: the Danish prime minister is flying to Israel tomorrow to discuss this.
@Kim Steen Hansen: Are they moving their embassy to Jerusalem?
“Israel to Send Thousands of Vaccines to Countries Opening Embassies in Jerusalem”
@David Jordan: They have a embassy in Tel Aviv. Can see anything about moving it.
@Kim Steen Hansen: isn’t it a terrible pity and shame then that they won’t speed up the vaccinations to the people of Palestine first. As the occupying power that is their moral responsibility to ensure that all people get the vaccine.
@Kim Steen Hansen: Mehole should swallow the pride and go do a deal with BoJo…we are next door neighbours and they are going to have 60 million completed by June – would make perfect sense to try wiggle a few million astrazenica to thee neighbours and allow them gloat to the EU to boot but if it means Ireland also gets done by end of June it’s be a win win.
@Anne Jordan: I’m not aware of the Danish governments thoughts about this.
@artur fil: Mabion, a Polish biotech company, will be manufacturing a Covid-19 vaccine under a licence with US pharmaceutical firm Novavax.
https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/poland-to-produce-novavax-coronavirus-vaccine-20236
@Dave Hammond: oooh noooo, you are asking them to do something….. that would work:-)
@Dave Hammond: Why can’t you address people by their correct name and stop acting the child by trying to by funny by doing so, gow up and act your age.
@David Jordan: give it a rest with your anti Israel nonsense… it’s boring
@Dave Hammond: BoJo will make the Irish Govt and the EU look like fóols by setting up vax centres in the north near the border and inviting ROI residents to get a free jab.
Everything’s an excuse with this Gov. Waiting for the lessons learned comment to be thrashed out as well now today
All the “well dones” and” keep it going” are wearing very thin along with nerves. Our government are as usual are dragging their heels so badly to be a danger to our health and heads. Northern ireland have vaccinated nearly all their adults over 60.They are at the point where one can make an online appointment if you are over 60, and thinking of starting to open up again. The lack of 30000 doses makes no difference to the overall lack of vaccination full stop. I do not agree with willful abandonment of masks or demonstrations but the government should understand its people are tired.
@Jacqueline Cregan: They seem to work though. Look at some of the posts on here and you can see those “well done’s” fool a very gullible but not insignificant portion of the population.
They will have a new excuse for not “hitting targets” every week
@Rhoda Cunningham: Next government/NPHET meeting….”okay lads, first up on the agenda….vaccines…..give us the update, how are we doing with the roll out? Any ideas how we can improve things? All ideas welcome.” “Ah I’ve been keeping an eye on Twitter and the Journal for ye lads, as there can be some very good ideas on there sometimes….Good few saying to speed up and that we’re useless etc.” “Oh wow, that’s a brilliant idea, how come none of ye thought of that here? Alright, look….pass the word on to the vaccinators…..no more chit chat, hellos, goodbyes or advice on how to treat any side effects etc…..tell them just lash the needle in, pull the trigger and drive on to the next person!! All in favour…..”
@Rhoda Cunningham: yup, zero surprises here.. We all knew, deep down, when the breakthroughs were announced last October /November and that applications had been sent for regulatory approval, that Ireland would be way behind on and clumsy when it came to the actual rollout once these were approved (as they were always going to be)
Off you go Martin…cap in hand to the UK for some vaccines…make yourself useful…oh call them btw…don’t actually go & see it as an photo op like when u tried to head away to America on a jolly…
@Hear me now: Has he seen the staircase at Downing Street yet?
One of the biggest issues is that we cannot actually believe one single word from the Government or any politician…’making it all up as they go along’ and each one contradicts the other..
Brilliant news to read, it’s nice to see the vaccine roll out being ramped up, I think though it’ll give people more hope when they start to see their neighbours and friends being vaccinated. Its great that transmission in hospital workers has fallen and nursing homes. Vaccines are working.
Gives me hope. We are so fortunate to be in this position, thinking back to almost a year ago when we all wished we had a vaccine and hearing the small inkling that we could have a vaccine, that excitement, that light at the end of the tunnel was incredible, thats how I feel now.
I’m genuinely happy with how the roll out is going.
My only concern is the mandatory quaratine, I wish it was fully in place, I want to give this roll out the best possible chance to suceed.
No housing issue, no problem with health care which drove us to such extreme lockdowns in the first place. No problems with building most expensive delayed childrens hospital in the world. Give the lads back their golf meeting.
@Barney r: Hey Barney, not sure how housing is related in anyway to vaccine roll out.
@Barney r: sorry is my comment related to the vaccine roll out too positive?
Oh that bleedin’ stephen fella is about as useful as a chocolate teapot on a summers day. Don’t even get me started on Leo, about as leaky as sive trying to contain leaky pipes in a heating system.
Government are a joke, wouldn’t even trust them to run a joke shop.
And yer man minister for finance, holy jaysus, wouldnt trust him with the pricing policy of a 2 euro shop
@Ally Mc Culladgh: he’s showing a sequence of bad cockups by these incompetent overpaid politicians and this is now continuing with vaccinations.
@Liam O Connor: Hey Liam, still doesn’t answer the question which is on the topic of vaccine roll out. How is housing related to the vaccine roll out?
@Ally Mc Culladgh: Both are the responsibility of the government and it is failing to act.
Their attitude is that the EU is responsible for the supply of vaccines and the ‘market’ (their speculator pals) is responsible for housing.
@Bramley Hawthorne: But the article is not about housing? So I’ll ask again, how is housing related to the vaccine rollout.
We have spent a year just getting to this point, with many missed opportunities and errors. If we let the new more transmissible P1 Manaus variant in here it will take another year to sort out if we are fortunate. The focus of Government and NPHET should be on keep such strains out as opposed to arbitrary 5km restrictions and a locator form.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/02/brazil-variant-evaded-immunity-previous-covid-cases
@Kevin O’Hara: The Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna and the Johnson and Johnson vaccines work well against the South African and Brazil variants, in fact the J&J vaccine performed just as good in Brazil and as it did in the US.
But the AstraZenica vaccine performed very poorly against the South Africa variant, was practically useless, and it likely performs just a bad against the Brazil variant. So the less AstraZenica vaccine we use the better as far as I’m concerned, we should stick with vaccines known to work on these new variants.
Why does the AstraZeneca delay have any impact on the +85 role out, when we only want to use this vaccine for under 65? I believe the plan was to use AstraZeneca for only under 65? Or do I get this wrong?
@Kim Steen Hansen: Health minister covering for his in-competent HSE buddies.
Something doesn’t add up here.
1. How can AZ shortfall affect over 85s when over 85s are not being given AZ vaccine?
2. My 95 year old uncle has been told by his doctor that he (the doctor) will let him know when vaccine supplies arrive but he doesn’t know when that will be. My uncle is not housebound.
@Pat Kelly: great question, it doesn’t make sense.
When the Journal contacted the government about this announcement and asked them if they are now using teh AZ vaccine on over 85s, what did they say?
The lack of media quesioning is astounding.
Where are the proper investigative journalists – not just those who can cut and paste.
@Tony Humphreys: ya get what ya pay for
Humpty dumpty sat on a wall …….. you know the rest
Maybe hit up the Germans and French for the masses of the stocks they have sitting in their fridges after scaring everyone off having the jab. Probably enough sitting there to do a first and second dose for everyone.
This country will never hit a target.
I wonder what is the rollout rate in the north compared to the republic?
They can blame the EU and AstraZeneca only for so long. After all, Malta is also an EU state and has vaccinated 18.5% of the population vs 8.8% here.
Last but not least, if this is going nowhere they go with a different supply. The govt clearly ignores EU when it suits them: the excise duty for new and used cars has been simply renamed VRT and they have been getting away with that for nearly 30 years.
@Stan Papusa: it appears that the Irish psyche, particularity in the ruling class, has an inferiority complex about being unable to make our own decisions. We threw out the Brits but bent ourselves right over the table to Rome, and now we are fanboys for Germany&France. I know a lot of Germans and they could barely locate Ireland on a map. Like the Brits, the EU has let us down on the one thing that matters most. It’s time to throw off these shackles and row our own boat.
Is anyone surprised
Were any of you really expecting anything else ??.
Fr Ted, hasn’t a patch on this government.
@Trevor Conroy: The vaccines were just resting in the lockup!
89,000 doses last week ain’t bad. At least we are getting them into peoples arms as soon as we have them.
@Dara Mac Fhionnain: Not bad at all for such an incompetent administration.
My 89 year old grandmother in Cork City is still awaiting contact from anyone regarding getting her vaccine. She’ll be 90 this year. Rollout is a complete disgrace!!
@paul: Paul it’s at the stage you need to
Contact your TD and councilors and threaten to out them on a social media. The GPS can do nothing, some jobsworth is sitting at a table somewhere saying that your practice is not getting supply yet, because it doesn’t suit his arbitrary ticklish
No surprise there
Why does this not surprise me..
Heard it was to do with billing currency, billed in dollars, agreed in Eur, not supply.
BUY OUR OWN BLOODY VACCINE!!!
Tired saying it, but relying in EU bureaucracy to catch up with the urgency of this is ridiculous.
It takes them almost 2 months to even approve a jab. Then almost a month after approval to physically supply them.
It’s a joke.
Other EU countries (Denmark, Germany, Hungary) have purchased their own hand alongside the EU supply, allowing them to meet demand. It’s ludicrous that we couldn’t do the same. Hungary even went so far as authorising the Russian Sputnik jab that EU hasn’t even talked about, which is proven to be 95% effective, but because it’s Russia we have to pretend it doesn’t exist.
It’s it a coincidence that Dublin West the area who gave FG/FF the lowest number of votes in the last election haven’t even started to vaxcinate the over 85s. And in dublin South the area that gave the most number of votes to Fg/Ff in the last election are starting to vaxcine the over 70s
@Odd Socks: No coincidence at all.
So since the start of the vaccine role out Steven Donnelly has under achieved. mislead lead the people. Lied on numerous occasions. And has yet to get 1 thing right. He has yet to achieve any of the targets set out since the 27th Dec in relation to the role out and has constantly blamed every man woman and dog on the street. He has not taken responsibility for any of the above. I work in sales and if did 50% of thise things wrong I wouldn’t be in a job today. But he will probably be moved eventually and get a golden handshake with it
Fasten seatbelts, huuuuge ramp next week.
@southside: We heard that for the last 4 or 5 weeks.
A bad tradesmen blames his tools. A bad health minister blames the supplier.
Where’s Simon Harris when we need him…
@Eddie Michael: Simon’s blaming school kids on the radio
Quelle surprise!
What’s new, what’s new, what’s new.
Why are comments closed on the protectionist rubbish CETA story?
Are you surprised.
The Government just love the Blame game, surprised they didnt get Sinn Fein in there as well. Anyone but the themselves.
The over 85 group not in nursing homes are the smallest group. There are reports of younger than 80 being vaccinated in the last couple of weeks while others much older are still waiting. Why is there such a disparity in the amounts being received by different GP practices? In the UK they have decided to vaccinate by age only because it is faster to keep going than to stop and decide who is in which lobby group. We haven’t even got to this part yet but you can see where it is going, we are about to tie ourselves in knots on this. People were saying that the Master of the Coombe was right to give the vaccine to his kids now it turns out that medical students who were lined up were pushed aside. Lack of organization and lack of oversight promotes unfairness.
The headline should read failure to meet pathetic vaccine rollout
Great to see trialsite news covering our Ivermectin Trial. We clearly need international oversite. https://trialsitenews.com/international-clinical-trial-remap-cap-includes-ivermectin-among-study-drugs-for-covid-19-treatment/
Sign of things to come. Shambles.
Efficient? Seriously? Its lagging behind Serbia.
At a rate of 81k a day is will take us 55 more weeks to vaccinate the remaining number of people who need to be vaccinated. Looking forward to opening up fully in April 2021 so….
So the target of the vaccine rollout is missed again. Unless this government does like some of the other EU countries like Hungary, Denmark and go to other countries to obtain the vaccine eg: Russia or Israel then I can see we will still be waiting into 2022.and still be locked down. The EU has made a mess of this along side all the excuses this government is making. The dithering and excuses I’m totally sick of.
Brilliant that’s so typical. No other western country seems to have trouble except us. I’m so sick of it. We have the least number of people and it should be nearing the end by now.
At a rate of 81k a week it will take us another 55 weeks to get the remainder of the country vaccinated. Looking forward to April 2021 so…
@Spbeak: no way….oh please don’t let that be true :-(
@Anna Carr: That is assuming we get the J and J one does vaccine approved and rolled out also and full population vaccination. If we can ramp up to 250k a week and use (get access to enough of) the J and J one shot vaccine we could be sorted with the full adult population vaccinated in 13 weeks, so by mid June. A lot of ifs there though.
@Spbeak: Simple maths, the amount of vaccines will increase as new production lines open as has already happened in Poland.
More factories will be producing the vaccine and more people will be vaccinated as we get the vaccine.
Israel gave the peoples information to big pharma to jump the queue for vaccines. Others did not.
If we had of people would be in arms over their private information been given out without their permission.
A Solomon type decision
EU handling of vaccines has been catastrophic to say the least. Its interesting that Austria and Denmark are going it alone with Israel to develop further vaccines. Thats a real fingers up to Europe.
have your say