Many Other EU States Plus UK Have Already Opened Vaccination To All Adults
Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher has said that the Government should consider opening up vaccination registration for all those aged over 16.
Kelleher, a member of the European Parliament’s Public Health Committee, was commenting after the Taoiseach suggested that it might be appropriate to now offer AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson to those in younger age groups.
“The Taoiseach is right and I hope NIAC moves to implement it as quickly as possible.
Consideration must also be given to opening up vaccine registration to those aged over 16 years.
Many EU member states, such as Belgium and France, and the UK, have already opened up vaccinations for all adults, and I think it’s sensible for Ireland to do so too.
Only last week, pop up vaccination clinics opened in areas of Northern Ireland where the virus is spreading rapidly.
We know that the Delta variant is spreading in Ireland - primarily among the younger generations.
It’s therefore essential to vaccinate these populations as quickly as possible.
Of course, supply will always be the limiting factor but I do think the supplies are in place, especially with the expected stockpile of AstraZeneca, to really ramp up vaccinations in the next three to four weeks.
The Government and the HSE have really done a great job in rolling out the vaccination programme. We shouldn’t be afraid of now scaling up to get ahead of, and defeat, the Delta variant.” concluded Kelleher.
