Delays in rolling out vaccine

EasilyAmused said:
Question regarding “herd immunity”.

Say one country, which is using Pfizer only (95% effective), is said to have achieved HI when X% of the population have received (both) jabs.
Then another country, which is using J&J only (66% effective) is said to have achieved HI when Y% of the population have received (single) jabs.

Is Y greater than X because J&J is less effective?

(In both cases the people have received the “full course”, ie ignore the number of required jabs.
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I would think that it's a percentage of the population who have received vaccines, the effectiveness of various vaccines might have a positive effect in the longer term .
Suppose what's the definition of herd immunity is also a factor.
 
I have to say I was very critical of the HSE and EMA for delays in rolling out the vaccines earlier but they have really stepped up the gear now. Looks like the portal for the 40 to 50 year olds, my demographic will be open next week. This is great news very happy about that
 
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I never saw this as a delay of Irish making. Just a supply issue. All along we’ve been third in the EU and AFAIK this is still the case. We’re about 37% at the moment and the EU average is 25%.

TBH, I don’t know what all the fuss was about.

I just hope these vaccines are are effective against B1617.2
 
EasilyAmused said:
I never saw this as a delay of Irish making. Just a supply issue. All along we’ve been third in the EU and AFAIK this is still the case. We’re about 37% at the moment and the EU average is 25%.

TBH, I don’t know what all the fuss was about.

I just hope these vaccines are are effective against B1617.2
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There were issues internally with data and the general malaise of getting GPs etc signed up, urgencies aren't in the HSE operation guidelines for anything.

I wrote here if the got the elderly fully vaccinated by the end of February it would be a great achievement, they didn't do that not because of supply as it was all Pfizer and still today their own figures don't show cohort 1 fully vaccinated.

I'm not really knocking them as we really are "sucking diesel now" but they were slow , the cohorts after healthcare workers and the very vulnerable were restrictive but now the age based system is a great success.

They should also have used the private hospitals for vaccine rollout.

It's still quite an achievement to be where we are and hopefully everything will continue this way.

On the Indian variants, the transmittabilty is much higher but according to BBC today the vaccines are still effective for now, but they are concerned that mass infection will again put health systems under pressure even if mortality is lower than the other waves.

It's not over yet but on balance and knowing the boosters will be more variant focused we are in a much better place than some would have thought.
 
almostthere said:
Not sure where you are getting the 25% from...

www.ecdc.europa.eu

COVID-19 Vaccine rollout overview

This report provides an overview of the progress in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in adults (aged 18 years and above) across EU/EEA countries.
www.ecdc.europa.eu www.ecdc.europa.eu
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We are about that in first doses, but remember the EU data only include 18 and over and don't include pregnant women our population in those figures is 3.72m and I'm almost certain those aged based groups are from the 2016 census.

I have tried to reconcile the population statistics and then add 5 years to each group to try and get a more accurate group population taking into account normal mortality and births rates but got annoyed and went into the garden and polytunnel and did something constructive
 
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I take your point. The HSE were slow. But time is relative. There were 24 EU countries slower than us. Big countries like France and Germany were slower than us.
We were never going to have it rolled out like Israel, the U.K., or the USA.

I don’t envy countries like the USA. Yes, they’re vaccine rollout is impressive. But their Covid body count has hit 600,000. That’s a lot. That’s close to how many Americans died of Spanish Flu.
 
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20210511_144033.jpg
 
EasilyAmused said:
I take your point. The HSE were slow. But time is relative. There were 24 EU countries slower than us. Big countries like France and Germany were slower than us.
We were never going to have it rolled out like Israel, the U.K., or the USA.

I don’t envy countries like the USA. Yes, they’re vaccine rollout is impressive. But their Covid body count has hit 600,000. That’s a lot. That’s close to how many Americans died of Spanish Flu.
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I can't see why we couldn't be like them not probably as quick but certainly more accurate and focused for example the elderly.

The problem is we have so many "vested interests" like the nursing home association making noise but doing nothing to assist the rollout and mocking that the recording vaccines on spreadsheet while that group took many elderly from hospital without as much as a test and got paid handsomely and they don't even have a central database of clients as they are private enterprises who enjoy huge tax right offs .

But I think we have achieved a lot and hopefully it continues.
 
Paul O Mahoney said:
www.theguardian.com

What threat does Indian Covid variant pose and do vaccines work against it?

The number of identified cases of the B.1.617.2 variant in the UK has more than doubled in a week
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

The BBC/Sky News have similar headlines this isn't a good news story.
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Yes, the last line in particular is something many people don’t seem to understand:

“Vaccines do not work 100%. If Covid is allowed to circulate at high levels among the unvaccinated population, there will still be a small proportion of vaccinated people who may get the disease and become severely ill.”
 
Paul O Mahoney said:
I can't see why we couldn't be like them not probably as quick but certainly more accurate and focused for example the elderly.

The problem is we have so many "vested interests" like the nursing home association making noise but doing nothing to assist the rollout and mocking that the recording vaccines on spreadsheet while that group took many elderly from hospital without as much as a test and got paid handsomely and they don't even have a central database of clients as they are private enterprises who enjoy huge tax right offs .

But I think we have achieved a lot and hopefully it continues.
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Sorry but that is a disgusting accusation to be made against nursing homes. You are accusing nursing homes of taking covid patients from hospitals to nursing homes and costing lives in the name of profit???

You obviously have no idea how the system works. It was nursing homes who publicly went in front of a dail committee last year saying that the HSE was discharging hundreds of elderly patients back into the nursing home system without covid tests. It wasn't up to the nursing homes to test them in hospital. It was up to the HSE and they failed. What exactly did you want to nursing homes to do? Not take the discharged patients? Leave them in hospital taking up beds and at higher risk of catching covid?

As for the argument that they don't have a central database because they are private enterprises that enjoy huge tax write offs. What does that even mean?
 
RTE reporting that for 40-49 age group, they will be given option for viral vector vaccine (AZ, J&J) if no mRNA vaccine available.
The J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines will only be permitted to be used if an mRNA vaccine is not available at the time of vaccination.
People must be given a choice at that time on what vaccine to accept, with fully-informed consent.

Unclear what this means in practice - a text confirming appointment and vaccine type which you can accept or decline?

www.rte.ie

360 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed

The Department of Health has been notified of 360 new confirmed cases of Covid-19.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie
 
www.rte.ie

More flexible storage conditions for Pfizer vaccine

The European Medicines Agency has approved more flexible storage conditions for the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, which is expected to help with the roll-out of vaccination in Ireland and other EU countries.
www.rte.ie www.rte.ie

This is another good development and will ease a number of obstacles of the rollout particularly in non urban areas.
Of course work is continuing on having the vaccine lyophilized and this too will help with logistical issues and hopefully increase the reach of the vaccines to poorer countries .
 
odyssey06 said:
RTE reporting that for 40-49 age group, they will be given option for viral vector vaccine (AZ, J&J) if no mRNA vaccine available.
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Well that's sensible. But it seems that the 50+ cohort will still be faced with a Hobson's choice.
 
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This is an interesting info graphic to show how many vaccines have been delivered by the various producers. Can't see the Russian vaccine in the group, correction "Gamaleya" is Sputnik V.

Edit, my posting of this kinda stuff isn't great
 
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www.bbc.co.uk

One million receive first Covid vaccine dose in NI - BBC News

Health officials confirm the landmark is passed less than six months since the vaccination programme began.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Just to give information on Northern Ireland, I must admit I thought they would have been further down the road, given they had vaccines a full month before us and had surety of supply for 4 months , I think things slowed down in April.

Anyway that's probably 2m plus people on the island with first doses and most of the elderly and vulnerable fully vaccinated. This is good news.
 
The above is a very good and informative piece. The website is also worth a visit just to keep tabs on the wider picture.

From the above J&J will be reducing deliveries to the EU by 50% so while we aren't using a lot per last information released, 11th May, it will still have an effect on our rollout.
 
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