The Taoiseach has expressed confidence that there will be a sufficient number of health workers to administer Covid-19 vaccines as the Republic’s rollout ramps up.
The Irish Times reports that Micheál Martin said a significant number of retired health professionals had offered their assistance.
While there had previously been some concern surrounding vaccinator numbers among members of the national vaccination task force, Mr Martin said it was now felt that there would be sufficient health professionals to administer the vaccines.
“That was a concern maybe a month ago, but it was quantified at our meeting with members of the workforce planning around vaccination and what I have just learned is that there is great interest among retired health professions,” he said.
“I don’t have precise figures for the number of vaccinators involved but I think we are okay — obviously GPs and pharmacists are a key part of the workforce and the government has put a lot of resources into vaccination and early on we had signed a deal with GPs and pharmacists.
Mr Martin continued: “People have responded to the call from the HSE in terms of coming back in to vaccinate so we have retired medical practitioners, retired GPs, nursing professionals in different capacities — there is a broad pool of people we can draw from that will add to the existing health service workforce.”
Mr Martin said the State was in a “confident position” in terms of its capacity to vaccinate a critical mass of the population over the next number of months.
By the end of quarter one, about 1.1 million vaccines doses should be administered, he said.
He added that the second quarter of the year should be a significant period in the State’s rollout, as increased numbers of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson jabs enter the Irish health system.
“As the vaccines are rolled out, mortality will go down, severe illness will go down and as we vaccinate the more vulnerable and the more senior of our citizens, we will be in a good space in a relatively short space of time,” Mr Martin said.
The Taoiseach was speaking during a visit to Cork City Hall, which is to be used as a mass vaccination centre over the coming months.
The newly fitted-out centre — with some 30 booths and a post-vaccination observation area — is expected to administer vaccines to some 2,400 people a day, from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.
