Tag Archives: coronavirus

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly

This morning.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said vaccine certificates are part of the implementation plan for the Covid-19 vaccination.

Via RTÉ

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said it needed to be seen how effective the vaccine is at reducing transmission, adding that this was not yet known by the regulator or the vaccine producer.

Once that information was known, he said, informed decisions could be made about how exactly a certificate could be used.

The minister said he had heard that airlines were looking at the potential for people needing vaccinations certificates to fly.

Vaccination certificates part of Covid-19 vaccine plan – Donnelly (RTÉ)

Last night: Form An orderly Queue

RollingNews

This morning/afternoon.

Dublin city centre.

Meanwhile…

Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

Above from left: Paul Reid, Chief Executive Officer, HSE; Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly TD; and Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health

This afternoon.

Department of Health, Dublin 2.

The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said that if the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorises the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine within a few days of its 21 December meeting, it is possible the vaccine could be rolled out at a very low level by the end of year.

Mr Donnelly made the comments as the Government announced details of its Covid-19 vaccination plan.

Vaccine rollout possible by end of year, says Minister (RTÉ)

RollingNews

UK’s Secretary of State for Health Matt Hancock

This afternoon.

The House of Commons, London, UK.

Britain’s Health minister Matt Hancock confirmed that the UK is experiencing a “new variant” of the coronavirus .

He said:

“Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability in the UK, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the faster spread in the South of England.

“Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants.

“We’ve currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in the South of England although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas.”

UK detects new virus strain as London to move to Tier 3 (RTÉ)

AP

Taoiseach Micheál Martin

This morning.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will begin after its expected approval by the European Medicines Agency on December 29 – starting with nursing home residents and healthcare staff.

Via RTÉ

Mr Martin said that January and February will see a limited volume of vaccines available, but enough for the most vulnerable groups.

The bigger volumes will come in March, April and May as other vaccines come on stream and other vaccine manufacturing ramps up around the world, he said.

He said that people need to be aware that the optimal period for a vaccination programme will be May and June when things open up and that this staged timeline approach depends on the availability and manufacturing of the vaccine.

Taoiseach says limited vaccine supplies in January, February (RTÉ)

Meanwhile…

Oh.

Leaked files expose mass infiltration of UK firms by Chinese Communist Party (MailOnline)

RollingNews

Oscar’s Café and Bar, Smithfield, Dublin 7

‘Regrettably we wish to advise that under the advice of An Garda Siochana we will no longer be offering the facility of our Suspended Meal for the Homeless and will require a substantial meal to be consumed (or not consumed as the case may be) with the purchase of an alcoholic drink.

We have nothing but the utmost respect for the Gardai who are just enforcing the current legislation. It was never our intention to circumvent the law. It was done with the best of intentions with what we thought was a common sense approach to dealing with unecessary food waste.

Any money raised to date will be passed onto Brother Kevin’s Capuchin Centre along with a €1000 contribution from Oscars.

We thank everyone for the fantastic support to date and wish you all a happy and safe Christmas.’

Oscar’s Café and Bar.

Oscar’s Café and Bar (Facebook)

Dublin pub told by gardaí it must serve food after suspension of €9 meal (Irish Times)

Professor Brian MacCraith, chair of the Vaccine task force

This afternoon.

The task force, chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith, has been considering the deployment and administration of Covid vaccines.

The large-scale logistical operation will kick in early next year once vaccines have been approved by the European Medicines Agency.

GPs and pharmacists are likely to be involved in immunisations but mass vaccination clinics may also be required.

Nine ultra-low temperature freezer lorries have arrived in the country to assist in the rollout.

Vaccines will be free to everyone, and the taskforce is likely to recommend how records will be maintained.

The Government is also working on a communications plan to deal with people’s concerns and to combat misinformation…

FIGHT!

Taoiseach expecting vaccine ‘build up’ in early 2021 (RTÉ)

RollingNews

Oh.

China flight attendants advised to wear diapers for Covid protection (CNN)

Pic: Cathay Pacific

This morning.

Further to opposition over the allocation of monies to artists under the covid-related Music Industry Stimulus Package led by the MISP Transparency Group (MISP)…

…Chris Somers writes:

Please post this superb podcast by Mark Graham of the band King Kong Company (top) about MISP, FMC, Yangaroo, IMRO and the recent handling of public funds designated to support Irish musicians.

While much of the discourse around the recent awarding of monies has been labelled sour grapes from unsuccessful artists, Mark has deftly and dispassionately questioned and challenged the optically dubious handling of these funds, for example the unchallenged awarding of €28,000 to distributors Yangaroo, the awarding of funds to acts managed by former FMC board members and journalists previously employed FMC for Hard Working Class Heroes and other FMC events.

The podcast goes well beyond MISP and raises serious questions about how public funding is being managed.

MISP Transparency have done a fantastic job on this recently but this is an even deeper dive.

Tuesday: Picture This