The decision by Government not to extend the COVID-19 booster vaccine programme to healthcare workers at this time is wrong.
I have written to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste,and Minister for Health, calling on them to make these booster vaccines available to frontline staff immediately.
You’ll know that infections among your colleagues in healthcare settings are on the rise, particularly among nurses and midwives. Of the 1417 cases among healthcare workers last month, 371 of those cases were nurses and midwives.
The highest of any cohort in the healthcare sector.
It is our view that under the EU Directive and Code of practice for Biological Agents that you are legally entitled to receive a booster vaccine. Your employer must provide necessary protections, including vaccines, where they are available, to afford maximum protection available to those exposed to COVID-19.
Nursing and midwifery colleagues as close as Northern Ireland and as far away as South Africa are already receiving their boosters. It is wrong that we are not following their lead.
We have made the point to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and Minister for Health that many of you would have received two doses of the vaccine back in January and February, months before the vaccination rollout applied to the over-60s cohort.
We will continue to put pressure on the Government to reverse this decision and have requested a meeting with the Taoiseach and his officials to discuss.