Initial low volume delivery of first vaccines could arrive before New Year
Formal engagement commenced with GPs to work on detailed process with HSE
Dr Lorraine Nolan, HPRA
It is possible an initial round of vaccination could begin before the New Year, posited Health Minister, Stephen Donnelly, following Cabinet sign off this morning (Tuesday December 15) of a strategy and implementation plan to offer Covid-19 vaccination nationally. If a European Medicines Agency (EMA) extraordinary meeting, rescheduled for an earlier than expected date of December 21 went ahead, and if it considered and approved the first of the vaccines, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, formal authorisation could be completed by December 23.
HPRA Opening Statement: 14 December 2020
Good evening everyone. My name is Lorraine Nolan and I am the Chief Executive of the Health Products Regulatory Authority – the HPRA.
I very much welcome the opportunity to speak to you about the approval process for COVID-19 vaccines in Europe and to provide you all with an update on where we currently stand.
The HPRA is the national authority responsible for the safety and effectiveness of medicines in Ireland. Many of these medicines, including vaccines, are authorised across Europe by the European Medicines Agency - the EMA. It does this by bringing together scientific expertise from all the national agencies, including ourselves in the HPRA. This means the public can have real confidence in the excellence and thoroughness of the approval process. This approach combines the best available scientific expertise within Europe in a very open and transparent way so as to ensure, the safety, effectiveness and quality of
New strain of Covid-19 could lead to a surge over Christmas herald.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from herald.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
There is no suggestion yet that the virus is any more dangerous than other strains of coronavirus.
Researchers on the Covid-19 Genomics UK (Cog-UK) consortium detected the variant and will be monitoring its movement around the UK.
They analyse the genetic code of about 10pc of coronavirus cases and share the sequences immediately.
Labs around the country were placed on alert for the new strain yesterday after it emerged it was behind a rise in cases in southeast England, home to many Irish emigrants who may be travelling here for Christmas.
A senior Government source said increasing travel restrictions for passengers travelling from Britain was not being considered at this stage, but the situation was “being monitored very closely”.
The Covid-19 vaccination strategy has been announced - here s everything you need to know
Included within the plan are details on where people will be vaccinated and who’ll be administering the jabs. By Sean Murray Tuesday 15 Dec 2020, 5:11 PM Dec 15th 2020, 5:11 PM 110,380 Views 67 Comments
TODAY, THE DETAILS of the government’s National Covid-19 Vaccination Programme were announced.
With the first vaccines set to be available soon – as early as before the end of this year according to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly – the strategy delves into the logistics and planning that will be required for large swathes of the country to be innoculated against Covid-19.