Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 March 2021
1681. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health if he will enlist the expertise and global logistical contacts of pharma and medical companies in Ireland to accelerate the supply of vaccines to Ireland. [15107/21]
View answerIreland is participating in a Procurement Exercise being operated by the European Commission on behalf of Member States to procure suitable, safe and effective vaccines, in sufficient quantities, to combat COVID-19. Six APAs have been negotiated by the Commission under this process to date, of which Ireland is participating in five.
Government approval has been obtained to opt-into a sixth, but this is conditional on certain trial progression criteria being met.
Ireland has opted-in to pro rata allocation of BioNTech / Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Ireland has also secured additional doses of the BioNTech / Pfizer vaccine via options and top up contracts, which will bring the current total of BioNTech / Pfizer doses secured to approximately 6.5 million doses. Ireland has also signalled interest in obtaining 1.64 million additional doses of the Moderna vaccine. Ireland now expects to receive a total of 1.1 million doses of three of the four approved vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca) from the start of the vaccination programme to the end of March.
Ireland has signalled its solidarity with the EU approach and has, through its participation, gained access to a broad range of vaccines that it might not otherwise have access to, and at the cost agreed collectively by the EU.
The only substantive limitation on the pace of implementation will be supply. As more vaccines are approved and arrive, the delivery schedule will change.
