The director general of the Heath Service Executive (HSE) has said it will be better to win hearts and minds rather than force anyone in Ireland to take a mandatory Covid-19 vaccine.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Paul Reid said he agreed with the World Health Organisation (WHO) position regarding compulsory vaccination.
Dr Michael Ryan of the WHO has said there are “specific circumstances” where governments may have to require a specific mandate for vaccination but those working in public health would rather this was avoided.
“I think we are much better served to present people with the data, present people with the benefits, and let people make up their own minds,” Dr Ryan said previously.
Asked on Friday about mandatory vaccination for health care workers, Mr Reid warned that if vaccination was made mandatory for this group it could feed the anti-vaccine campaign.
The system of encouraging health workers to get the flu vaccine had worked well with a “huge take up” this year, he added.
Winter
Extra funding for Covid-19 meant that the health service was heading into the winter in a better position than previous years and would be ready to cope with a surge in the new year if it materialises, Mr Reid said.
The big issue would be what happens in the next four weeks. Mr Reid said he would be asking people to exercise good judgement on what was safe behaviour and to keep down the number of contacts they have.
The HSE chief added that the Covid-19 vaccination programme would be a great opportunity to enhance the country's patient data base.
Mr Reid said there already was a lot of data through GPs and pharmacists and there were a lot of HSE staff with experience in accessing data.
The health service should be in a much stronger position with regard to a national patient data base after the vaccination roll out, he said.
