Vaccine safety concerns must be addressed through rollout, Glynn says

Acting chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has said he expects up to 30 per cent of people will have "legitimate questions" and "concerns" about vaccinations and these will continue to be addressed as the rollout of the Covid-19 jabs continues.

Mr Glynn told Tuesday's meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Health that health authorities were aware of the need to maintain confidence in the vaccination programme amid concerns over two vaccines – AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson – being linked to rare blood clots.

He offered reassurances on the safety of the Astra Zeneca vaccine for those aged between 60 and 69 while saying the health service is not in a position to offer a choice of vaccine to people.

He said authorities have been proactive in assessing the latest data and ensuring the public understands the rationale for decisions and that safety comes first.

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Separately, Denis McCauley, the chairman of the GP committee of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) said “will be a certain amount of hesitancy” about the AstraZeneca vaccine, and the news about Johnson & Johnson would add to the “clutter and confusion”.

Dr McCauley said he hoped the hesitancy would mean patients seek advice from GPs to allow them to conceptualise the risk and make an informed decision.

He compared the risk of a young person getting Astra Zeneca to driving from Donegal to Dublin and back while for someone over the age of 60 it would be like the risk of driving from their home to their doctor’s surgery.

The vaccine is “really, really safe” and “It protects against a very serious condition”, he said.

The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) this week changed its advice on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. It is now not to be administered to people under the age of 60.

People under 60 without high risk health conditions who have been given a first dose will have the interval between their doses extended from 12 to 16 weeks to allow for further assessment of the benefits and risks of the vaccine.

The Oireachtas committee was told that 235,000 doses of Astra Zeneca have been administered so far but only approximately 250 of these had been a second dose.

Dr Glynn was told that GPs and politicians have been getting calls from people who are concerned about getting the AstraZeneca vaccine.

He said vaccine hesitancy is something “we’re obviously always concerned about”.

Dr Glynn said surveys have shown almost nine out of 10 people say they will probably or definitely take the vaccine. However, he said this cannot be taken for granted.

“We have to continue to communicate and address concerns,” Dr Glynn said. “As I’ve said on many occasions there will be 20 or 30 per cent of the population who will have very legitimate questions, very legitimate concerns. We need to continue to address those.”

Dr Glynn said said people’s concerns about the Astra Zeneca vaccine need to be addressed at an individual level and he doesn’t think the health service is in a position to offer a choice of which vaccine they get.

He also said: “The chances of someone aged 60 or over dying as a result of contracting Covid is 85 times higher than the risk of any clotting event arising out of receiving the Astra Zeneca vaccine.... this vaccine is as safe and effective as the other vaccines in the age group for whom it’s being recommended.”

Dr Glynn said a “very conservative approach” was taken and the decision surrounding the age threshold was taken out of an “abundance of caution”.