“We have people who are vulnerable who aren’t fully vaccinated and people who are less vulnerable who are.”
Trinity Professor Luke O’Neill has said that it is “perverse” that some vulnerable people are still not fully vaccinated due to the longer wait between AstraZeneca jab doses.
O’Neill has previously called for a “mix and match” approach so that patients originally given AstraZeneca could be offered a different brand to reduce waiting times.
The Professor has now said that the Delta variant has increased the importance of fully vaccinating vulnerable groups even sooner.
On The Pat Kenny Show on Monday morning, he described the current wait between AstraZeneca doses as “ridiculous”.
The current interval between the first and second AstraZeneca dose is between eight to 12 weeks.
Meanwhile, patients can avail of the ‘vaccine bonus’ (not including international travel) from 28-days after their first dose.
“It is perverse now that we have people who are vulnerable who aren’t fully vaccinated and there are people who are less vulnerable who are. That is a real disconnect, I think,” he said.
“The second thing that would worry me I think would be the four-week thing. You know they have said if you have had AstraZeneca, your first shot, four weeks later you can begin to benefit from the vaccine bonus.
“Now that Delta is here, that has changed because that single shot still puts you at risk of catching the Delta form so again, they should change these guidelines in the face of Delta really.”
O’Neill added that he is hopeful that NIAC (National Immunisation Advisory Committee) will be able to give an update on the wait time between vaccine doses very soon.
“The whole thing has changed really in many ways because of Delta so we are all hoping NIAC might give an opinion on this because it is a serious issue right now,” he continued.
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