Ireland is rapidly redrafting its plan for rolling out vaccines to older people after it was advised to favour the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for those aged 70 and above, it is understood.
Family doctors are now working with the health service to roll out these vaccines to older people, despite previous plans for GPs to administer the more stable AstraZeneca shot.
The use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, based on a new technology called mRNA, in a GP setting is seen as more challenging due to the demands of storing and administering them, as they need to be kept at ultra low temperatures.
The Irish Times reported on Wednesday morning that the advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Centre (NIAC) was that it would be preferential to give mRNA vaccines to older age groups. This is because there was a limited number of people aged over 55 in the AstraZeneca phase three clinical trial.
Many national health authorities in EU countries are curtailing the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine among older people.
In an update to its GP membership seen by The Irish Times, the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) said that it is “working with the HSE for the rollout of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines through general practice for patients aged over 70”.
“This programme and roll out is not without its challenges from a logistical perspective but in circumstances where General Practice has proven itself to be efficient and effective at mass population vaccines we are confident that it can be delivered as the starting point of this national effort,” Dr Denis McCauley, the IMO GP chair, wrote in a note to members.
'Preference'
It comes after the chief clinical officer of the HSE, Dr Colm Henry, confirmed on Wednesday that the preference would be to give older people – who are next in the State’s immunisation queue – vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna rather than the newly-approved AstraZeneca shot.
“The advice generally is to give the mRNA vaccines, namely the Moderna or the Pfizer, to preferentially give those to older people. Based on the evidence we have right now it affords them greater protection,” Dr Henry said.
It is thought that pooled vaccination centres, where GPs come together in a central location to give shots to their patients, are under consideration. These would differ from the mass vaccination centres as originally conceived in the State’s vaccine rollout plan.
