Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 July 2021
116. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Health if further consideration has been given to exempting those vaccinated with WHO approved vaccines from mandatory hotel quarantine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30251/21]
View answer174. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Health if persons travelling into the country from states on the mandatory hotel quarantine list will be provided with an exemption to mandatory hotel quarantine in cases in which they are fully vaccinated with a World Health Organisation approved vaccine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30512/21]
View answer182. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health if he plans to extend the exemption from mandatory hotel quarantine to persons fully vaccinated with a vaccine (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30592/21]
View answer185. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Health if he will consider the recognition of a vaccine (details supplied) that if taken by a passenger would allow them to avoid mandatory hotel quarantine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30596/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 116, 174, 182 and 185 together.
As of 17th April, passengers who are fully vaccinated and have the documents to confirm this are no longer required to complete mandatory hotel quarantine on arrival in Ireland. Dependents, including children, will also be exempted from the requirement to complete mandatory hotel quarantine in this instance.
Please note that the 4 EMA approved vaccines currently accepted have specific definitions for when a person would be considered fully vaccinated.
The following table sets out the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’;
|
A full course of any one of the following vaccines |
Regarded as fully vaccinated after |
|
2 doses of Pfizer-BioNtech Vaccine: BNT162b2 (Comirnaty®) |
7 days |
|
2 doses of Moderna Vaccine: CX-024414 (Moderna®) |
14 days |
|
2 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine: ChAdOx1-SARS-COV-2 (Vaxzevria® or Covishield) |
15 days |
|
1 dose of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Vaccine: Ad26.COV2-S [recombinant] (Janssen®) |
14 days |
Fully vaccinated travellers are still required to have a negative pre-departure RT-PCR test and complete a period of self-quarantine at home or wherever specified in their passenger locator form.
Ireland supports the EU Procurement Process, the purpose of which is to secure safe and efficacious vaccines for EU citizens.
Covid 19 vaccines can only be approved and used if they comply with all the requirements of quality, safety and efficacy set out in the EU pharmaceutical legislation. No vaccine will be used until market authorisation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is obtained and any authorised vaccine will be subject to ongoing monitoring in Ireland by the Health Product Regulatory Authority (HPRA).
The delivery of vaccines under Advanced Purchase Agreement that the Commission has negotiated on behalf of Member States are predicated upon a Conditional Marketing Authorisation (CMA) being obtained from the Commission (on the basis of a positive recommendation being awarded by the EMA).
The awarding of a CMA provides a high level of assurance that a vaccine has undergone rigorous testing and has met the requirements of the independent regulatory process as regards demonstrating its safety and efficacy.
The Sinopharm vaccine has not been awarded a CMA to date.
