More good news on the vaccine front.
The first round of Covid vaccines will have an immediate impact in Ireland, according to an immunology expert.
Professor Luke O’Neill has said that when the first round of Covid-19 vaccines are distributed across the country, we should see an immediate decrease in the national R number.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show on Friday morning, O’Neill said: “But remember, as soon as we vaccinate even 20% of the population, the dreaded R number starts to go down anyway,” he said.
“We will see benefits as soon as the vaccination programmes begin. Once the R number goes to 0.6 or 0.5 that is great isn’t it?”
He also discussed the European Medicine Agency (EMA), and how every vaccine will be tested strictly, despite the urgency of the situation.
“They are putting their best and brightest people in EMA on to this and the FDA – all the scientists, all the medics are examining this really closely to make sure they can trust the companies.
“Regulation is very important but I wouldn’t have any worry. If they press go on this, in their opinion, it is safe and efficacious and we can get on with vaccinating people in Europe.”
He also discussed how important it is to have a distribution plan in place to ensure that Ireland doesn’t lose its allocation of vaccines.
He said: “So there will be a certain divvy for each country but if you can’t roll it out, they won’t give it to you until you can prove that you can – so that is something we have got to keep an eye on.”
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