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Vital to keep vaccine supply chains open - Taoiseach

Updated / Monday, 22 Mar 2021 22:29

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he is against the EU placing export bans on Covid vaccines, saying it is vital to keep supply chains open.

Mr Martin said he is very much against stopping vaccines manufactured in the EU from leaving the EU, adding that he believed it "would be very retrograde step" and "counterproductive".

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, he stated that blocking supplies, or export bans, would have a detrimental effect. The key is production and manufacture, he said.

Mr Martin said the UK should engage with the EU and reciprocate on vaccine flow, adding that vaccines made in the EU had gone to Britain, but none had come back.

He said the EU has played this straight and that the UK needs to reciprocate in terms of vaccines manufactured in the UK, particularly AstraZeneca, and stop the "argy bargy" and get down to the reality of the situation, "which is that AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured in Europe had been facilitated to go to Britain, that needs to be acknowledged by the UK side and in my view reciprocated to some degree". 

He said Moderna and Johnson & Johnson told him that they are in a position to increase output if supply chains are not disrupted.

He added however that Moderna is worried about anything that could impede their capacity to get the raw materials in to manufacture on European sites.

In relation to the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, 280 materials are involved in the production of that vaccine, with 86 supplies from 19 countries around the world.

He said if people started putting barriers up "we are in trouble".

He stated there is huge tension there between AstraZeneca and the European Union and said the company had not fulfilled their contracts. But, he said there was no point in undermining the other companies such as Moderna, Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer.

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'The theme has to be outdoors'

The Taoiseach said that the theme going forward has to be around the "outdoors" and that people must avoid congregation indoors.

Community transmission is generally happening in indoor settings, as shown by public health data, Mr Martin added.

Mr Martin said the strategy in relation to tackling Covid-19 has worked, and that numbers have come down relative to where they were a number of months ago. 

But he said the Government is concerned that the situation with case numbers has remained static and that the variant of the virus is akin to a new virus given its "deadly nature" and increased transmissiblity.

Rising case numbers in recent days are as a result of the variant, he said, as well as more congregation and mobilisation of people.

He said the virus the country is dealing with now is very different to the one they dealt with in the first and second waves.

He said the level of commitment from people has been extraordinary but added that they should continue to follow the guidelines.

Mr Martin said he would speak with the Tánaiste and public health officials and everything would be examined between now and 5 April.

He said the mental and community wellbeing of people would be taken into account and that they would look at items such as outdoor sport.

The Taoiseach said no decisions have been made yet about reducing restrictions and that the ongoing vaccination campaign will be factored into decision-making.

Mr Martin said the Government had already indicated that the 5km travel limit and changes to restrictions in the construction industry would be examined.

The Taoiseach also said he believes that additional countries will be added to the mandatory quarantine list, but there has to be a legal basis for this and the decision has to be made on public health grounds.

He said it is grounded on the importance on having a good public health rationale for adding countries to a mandatory quarantine list.

An Garda Síochána would always back up the civil authorities but "these are not prisons", we are a democracy and there are balances to be struck here about how this will be administered, Mr Martin added.

He said it would be difficult to ascertain the demand for quarantine hotels, but the introduction of such a measure will act as a deterrent to people coming into Ireland.

Mr Martin added that the risk of further reopening of schools is "not comtemplated at this stage", but it will be examined between now and 5 April.

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