Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
937. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Health the efforts being made to purchase vaccinations beyond what is being provided through EU; and if the Government is working to aid developing countries in their vaccination efforts. [16641/21]
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, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen 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 ordered 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.
Four vaccines have been authorised by the EU, and a number of vaccine candidates are still to be fully assessed. Ireland fully supports efforts by the international community, including as an EU Member State, to ensure fair and equitable access to vaccines for all. If, and when, it is determined that Ireland has an excess of vaccine doses to successfully achieve the goals of the vaccination strategy, Ireland will utilise the sharing mechanisms available through the EU procurement structure. It is expected that COVAX will be central to this sharing mechanism. As significant uncertainty remains around the vaccination environment in Europe, it is too early to quantify or schedule the potential sharing of vaccines.
