Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health David Cullinane TD has said more information is needed on the delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Waterford TD welcomed news that HSE and private carers will be vaccinated as part of priority group 2, but has said more clarity is needed on whether family carers are in group 2, 6, or 10.

He also welcomed a commitment to ensure that pharmacists, dentists, and their staff, are vaccinated as a matter of urgency.

Teachta Cullinane said:

“I welcome clarity that HSE home help and carers, as well as private sector carers and dentists, will be vaccinated as part of priority group 2.

“There is still uncertainty for family carers who cannot be forgotten.

“Some have been told they are group 10 I have been told that they could be group 6 or even group 2.

“This needs to be resolved urgently. They deserve clarity after all they have sacrificed.

“We are also getting a lot of queries from people with disabilities and chronic illnesses in very high risk categories, such as people with cystic fibrosis, who are waiting to find out when they will be vaccinated.

“To ensure that we can vaccinate vulnerable people quickly, every effort needs to be made to maximise the number of doses arriving in on a weekly basis.

“We need more information on the delivery of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

“I met with representatives of AstraZeneca a number of months ago and they told me that advance manufacturing of the vaccine was underway.

“The Minister needs to be clear – how much of this is already manufactured, and will all of the advance manufactured doses be delivered after approval?

“The details in the Minister’s response were vague and it is not clear how much is advance manufactured.

“It is important that we get as much of it in as possible early on. This will allow us scale up the vaccine rollout rapidly.

“The Minister is leaning very heavily on the Commission – he should be directly engaging with the pharmaceutical companies to get this information into the public domain.”