Vaccination campaign
Deputy Ó Ríordáin asks for more public advertising to encourage vaccination among younger adults, and the Taoiseach agrees that persuasion and targeted outreach remain essential.
Only 7% of the adult population of Ireland remains unvaccinated but that accounts for approximately 55% of those who are in ICU. In a discussion that Opposition spokespeople had yesterday with the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, some of the statistics that were given to us and related to unvaccinated young people were quite stark. Particularly in the age group between 25 and 29, only 80% of that age group is vaccinated. We do not want to get into the realm of shaming young people. We want to encourage young people to get vaccinated. I ask the Taoiseach what sort of public advertising campaign of encouragement will the Government invest in and roll out to ensure that younger people take up vaccination because they are the ones who are more mobile, are meeting more people and are part of the solution.
Comment on this
I agree with the Deputy in the sense that key to the vaccination programme has to be constant encouragement and persuasion. In some minority groupings, for example, which may culturally have some challenges with vaccination, there has been a reach-out from the HSE and a specific targeted focus that is yielding results in terms of increased numbers.
The Deputy is correct in stating that whereas it is a rate of 7% overall, there is a higher percentage of those who have not come forward for vaccination in that age cohort he identified and even in the 12 to 17 years age cohort.
There is an ongoing communications approach but also pop-up vaccination centres have been provided, particularly in third level, for example, to make it accessible for those who have not yet come forward.
At the weekend, I was talking to the CEO, who said 1,900 people had come forward for their first dose in one particular area at the weekend, which illustrates this is still worth engagement. It is still worth pursuing that 7%, particularly as it is manifested in certain age cohorts and in certain groupings.
I agree 100% with the Deputy that, as we roll out the booster, we are also asking people to please come forward for a vaccination and that it matters and will protect them and their loved ones.