Preparations are taking place in Ireland to resume the rollout of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
The Irish Times reports that the preparations come amid optimism that the jab will be given safety clearance by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday.
The vaccine's rollout was temporarily suspended in the Republic, along with a number of other European countries, following reports of blood clotting in a number of people who had received the jab in Norway and Germany.
There is now growing hope among Government and health sources that the EMA will green light the vaccine’s continued use in the bloc.
On Tuesday as the EMA continued investigation into the jab’s safety, EMA executive director Emer Cooke said it was “still firmly convinced that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19... outweigh the risks of these side effects.”
Ms Cooke’s comments have been viewed by Irish health officials as favouring the continued use of the vaccine.
Re-start date
The AstraZeneca jab is projected to make up more than 20 per cent of doses to be delivered in the second quarter of the year in the State.
Although no final decision has been made by the regulator, some political sources expressed hope that the vaccine’s rollout could recommence by the weekend.
However, HSE sources rejected this target, saying it would take several days to “re-start” the rollout as cancelled appointments would need to be re-booked and doses would also have to be shipped out to vaccination centres.
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) will also have to consider the outcome of the EMA review and pass its recommendation to the chief medical officer, who in turn advises the Minister for Health.
