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HSE receives 'ultra low freezers' for storage of Covid-19 vaccines

Updated / Friday, 4 Dec 2020 15:53
Some of the ultra low freezers purchased by the HSE for storing virus vaccines
Some of the ultra low freezers purchased by the HSE for storing virus vaccines

Specialist freezers to store Covid-19 vaccines have started to arrive in Ireland, the Health Service Executive chief Paul Reid revealed.

He posted a photo on Twitter and explained: "We're preparing for the #COVID19 vaccine roll-out in Ireland.

"At the HSE National Cold Chain Centre, we have received and are currently commissioning & validating a consignment of 9 x Ultra Low Temperature Freezers for storage of the vaccines at -75 degrees."

It follows a press briefing yesterday during which Mr Reid said Ireland has the capacity to acquire 16 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

"Although there will be no shortage of the vaccine", he said, they will arrive at different stages, which "will require sequencing or prioritisation process which is currently being finalised".

Mr Reid said the high-level vaccine task force is "on track" to deliver a strategy to the Taoiseach and to Government by 11 December.

He said it was "realistic that Ireland will commence its vaccination programme in the early days of January 2021". The task force held its second full meeting last Monday.

Meanwhile, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly last night said Ireland was "in line" with the rest of the EU27 when it comes to the roll out of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time, he said when the European Medicines Agency approves the vaccine there should be a roll-out in early January.

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''It's good news and a good week for Ireland in our fight against Covid,'' Minister Donnelly said. He added we have the lowest rate of Covid-19 cases in the EU.

Yesterday, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Health, David Cullinane, published his party's document on planning the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. He said it must be "free, fair and transparent".

"The infrastructure for storage, distribution, and administration of the vaccine needs to be in place by year-end to ensure we can administer initial stock of the vaccine rapidly," he said.

"With the cooperation of community and voluntary organisations, pop-up vaccination centres should be rolled out, particularly for rural, remote, and poorly served areas."

Labour leader Alan Kelly told the Dáil that "political accountability is needed" on the vaccine roll out. "We need to know who is ultimately in charge to address the many outstanding issues with the plan."

He asked if companies would be allowed to purchase their own supplies of the vaccine.

"The issue is public versus private and should be based on need, and not on whether somebody is going to be able to pay for it," Mr Kelly said.

Britain this week became the first Western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for general use, giving the green light to the Pfizer/BioNTech drug. It is storing its supplies at secret locations.

The European Medicines Agency later criticised the UK's rapid approval of Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine, saying its own procedure was more thorough.

Leading US infectious disease scientist Anthony Fauci said yesterday that Britain had rushed approval, but he later apologised.

"I have a great deal of confidence in what the UK does both scientifically and from a regulator standpoint," Mr Fauci told the BBC.

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