Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 March 2022
705. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health when children in the 12 to 15 age category who are considered high risk but not immunocompromised will become eligible for the Covid booster vaccination. [11204/22]
View answerIreland's COVID-19 vaccination programme is based on the principles of safety, effectiveness and fairness, with the objective of reducing severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths from COVID-19 infection.
The immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). The NIAC makes recommendations on vaccination policy to the Department of Health based on the prevalence of the relevant disease in Ireland and international best practices in relation to immunisation.
Following the recommendation for use of vaccines against COVID-19 by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and authorisation for use by the European Commission, the NIAC develops guidance for their use in Ireland which is contained in the Immunisation Guidelines for Ireland. These guidelines are continuously updated and include guidance on all new vaccines as they are approved for use in Ireland.
You can view the updated guidelines here: hse.ie/eng/health/immunisation/hcpinfo/guidelines/covid19.pdf.
On February 22nd the NIAC recommended that:
- a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine be offered to all children and young people aged 12-15 years.
- A booster dose of the mRNA vaccine Comirnaty, the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech, should be given at an interval of six months or longer since completion of the primary vaccine series.
- For those children and young people aged 12 – 15 years who have experienced a breakthrough infection, the booster dose should be deferred for at least six months following the onset of infection.
The Minister has accepted these recommendations and the HSE are now working to operationalise these updates.
The NIAC will continue to examine emerging evidence regarding booster vaccines for others in the population where there is evidence of waning immunity and reduced effectiveness and will make further recommendations if required.
