Indoor dining vaccine priority
Deputy Berry asks whether indoor hospitality workers should be prioritised for Janssen vaccinations before reopening. Deputy Ryan says no such prioritisation has been made beyond health workers and age-based rollout, but he will pass on the suggestion.
We are all aware that representatives from the hospitality industry and officials from the Department of Health are currently meeting to discuss how best to tease out the reopening of indoor dining over the next couple of weeks. That is a good thing. We are also aware that there are approximately 750 pharmacies across the country in which members of the public are being vaccinated on a first come, first served basis. Has any thought been given to asking or directing the pharmacy sector to prioritise the administering of the Janssen vaccine to indoor hospitality workers who, because of their age demographic, may not have been picked up by the mainstream vaccination programme? If not, it is something the Minister and the Government might consider.
Comment on this
I will pass on the Deputy's suggestion to the Minister for Health. There has not, to date, been a prioritisation given to any category of workers other than front-line health workers, including staff in nursing homes, who obviously had to be prioritised because there was an immediate threat to the lives of their patients if they were not vaccinated. Other than that, the prioritisation has been on the basis of age, which was appropriate. I am very glad that we now have an opportunity for younger people to get vaccinated. Our key priority must be to try, as the Taoiseach has been doing, to get as much international supply as possible into the State and get everyone vaccinated as quickly as we can. That would be Government priority, rather than differentiating on the basis of profession. As much as I can see the logic behind the Deputy's proposal regarding hospitality workers, I have not heard it discussed in the various meetings I have attended.