Éamon Ó Cuív
Ceist:1673. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the steps that have been taken to procure and distribute vaccines (details supplied);; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42634/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 8 September 2022
Ceisteanna (1673)
Freagraí scríofa
At this time, supplies of monkeypox vaccine in Ireland and in the EU are limited. Ireland, along with other EU countries, is actively exploring options to increase our medium to long-term supply of vaccines.
The Department of Health and the HSE have been working closely with the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) to secure additional vaccine doses. The first supply of vaccines procured by HERA and donated to Member States was delivered to Ireland recently. HERA has secured an additional supply of 54,000 doses of vaccine which are expected to become available in December 2022. The allocation of these additional doses is still to be determined. Separately, Ireland is participating in a European joint procurement exercise through HERA to boost Ireland’s medium-term supply.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.