Sir, – I hope that the vaccine “rollout” is a little quicker than the broadband “rollout”. – Yours, etc,
TOM LYNCH,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.
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A chara, – When BioNTech founder Prof Ugur Sahin was asked by a Deutsche Welle reporter why he hadn’t taken the vaccine his company had created, Prof Sahin stated that he didn’t do so as he was not on the government-approved priority list. – Is mise,
ERIC CREAN,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – We are in serious danger of remaining in lockdown not for months but for years.
Great hopes are pinned on the vaccines, with little or no discussion of the possibility that they may not be sufficiently effective to allow us to return to normal. There has been some discussion about whether vaccines will reduce or even eliminate transmission and also about how long immunity will last. I am not aware of any public consideration of the effect of the evolution of the virus on vaccination strategies.
Mutants which transmit more rapidly have evolved (for example, the UK strain and South African strain) and are sweeping around the world. They have mutations affecting the spike protein, and this protein is the main target against which several vaccines, including those of Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna, have been raised. It is possible that some of the vaccines will provide less or even no immunity against these fast mutants. This possibility is being tested but I have not yet seen the results. I can see why companies and governments would want to “protect” the public from bad news but the results, however unwelcome, should be published as a matter of urgency. If there are data which say that the three vaccines on which we are relying will not work against new coronaviruses then we should be told, and we should be told what the Government proposes to do about it.
Even if the news is good, there is another reason why we should not rely on vaccination – mutant viruses are likely to appear which will escape the vaccines.
That is elementary Darwinism, and is indeed what happens with flu viruses. We might be lucky – some vaccines (for example against the measles, polio and smallpox viruses) can be administered for many years without modification, but we should not rely on coronavirus being so well-behaved. There is already evidence that human coronaviruses do evolve and escape natural immunity and there is evidence that some monoclonal antibodies being used to treat coronavirus do not work on some viral mutants.
On the plus side, new vaccine technologies will facilitate rapid production of new vaccines against new coronavirus mutants that escape the current vaccines. And people are working hard to discover drugs against the virus – we will need several to avoid the selection of resistant mutants.
All of that being said, governments worldwide should co-ordinate and adopt the alternative coronavirus policy of Zero Covid which does work (China, Australia, New Zealand, etc) and is not affected by viral evolution. Ireland should take the lead in Europe as soon as we get the case load to a low enough level. It will be grossly irresponsible of the authorities if they are lulled into placing all their hopes on vaccines – they will be part of the solution but they are unlikely to be decisive. Zero Covid must be part of the strategy for returning to normal. In the meantime, everyone who is offered the vaccine should take it. – Yours, etc,
DAVID McCONNELL,
Smurfit Institute
of Genetics,
Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – Government policy in relation to foreign direct investment has resulted in Ireland, arguably, become the heaviest hitter in supply-chain management expertise on the planet. We have a cohort of data scientists who manage incredibly complex materials movements, matching demand with supply on sophisticated systems. Wasted inventory is minimal and the last-mile delivery to customers happens as specified and on time. All of them work for companies with a heightened sense of social responsibility and who would be happy to help, pro bono, in our time of need. Why not look here for vaccine distribution skillsets rather than to a Civil Service whose expertise lies elsewhere. Ibec will know how to assemble a task force. – Is mise,
COLM GREAVES,
Glenageary,
Dublin 18.
Sir, – It is with incredulity and disbelief that I read in The Irish Times that our Government has agreed to pay over €91 million to GPs to administer vaccines to 1.5 million of our population, which works out at €60 per capita ("Cabinet approves ¤91 million plan to bring GPs and pharmacists into vaccine programme", News, January 19th).
In the same article, you also kindly acknowledged how our student nurses have received €100 each for working a 39-hour week in our health services during this pandemic. Within our Community Health Areas, we have currently public health doctors employed, as well as GPs and nurses, providing care in the community. Currently our GPs have signed up to a General Medical Services (GMS) contract which provides them with a significant salary, including provision for additional grants for providing services in rural and socially deprived environments, capitation payments for a variety of chronic diseases, cervical screening, child immunisations, to name but a few. GPs also receive a grant for a salary to employ a practice nurse who will probably administer these vaccines in GP surgeries. The sum of €91 million would employ an additional 2,600 qualified nurses in full-time employment for one full year in our health services. Why are politicians and journalists not critiquing such decisions in the current environment? – Yours, etc,
EP CUSACK, RGN, RPN
Dublin 15.