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LAST UPDATE | 16 Mar 2021
120,000 DOSES OF the flu vaccine for children were destroyed after the uptake rate among this age group was lower than anticipated in Ireland.
The HSE purchased 600,000 doses of the Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) for children aged 2-12 years old ahead of the most recent flu season.
The HSE confirmed to TheJournal.ie that 480,000 doses of the vaccine (delivered via a nasal spray) were distributed, but 120,000 were destroyed by the manufacturer because they expired in January and February.
It is not clear if all 480,000 doses distributed were administered as the overall number of doses given is not yet available.
From October to December 2020, the flu vaccine was free for children in Ireland aged two to 12 – the first time the vaccine was free for this age group.
Despite a promotion and information campaign by the HSE, uptake for the vaccine was lower than expected.
The HSE also purchased 1.9 million doses of the Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (QIV) for adults (delivered via an injection) for administration during 2020-2021 flu season.
The QIV vaccine will expire in June and July 2021.
A spokesperson for the HSE said they could not comment on how much the organisation paid for the vaccines “as it is commercially sensitive”.
The spokesperson said the number of people who got the influenza vaccine for the 2020/2021 flu season “is not yet available”, but added that demand was “unprecedented”.
‘Unclear why uptake was low’
Efforts were made by the HSE and the Department of Health during late autumn and winter in a bid to increase the uptake rate of the flu vaccine among children.
Correspondence released to TheJournal.ie under the Freedom of Information Act shows that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was concerned about the low uptake rate of the vaccine among children aged two to 12 years.
Officials at the department were unsure of why there was a low uptake rate despite the fact “a heavyweight TV campaign” on the rollout aired for six weeks, as well as other promotion efforts.
In an email sent on 27 November 2020, David Noonan, a Principal Officer at the Department of Health, wrote to a number of colleagues in the department about the uptake rate.
Noonan wrote: “We’ve been speaking with the HSE (National Immunisation Office) about this, and discussing the matter internally with our own Communications team as well.
“The first thing to say is that it’s not clear why uptake has been so low. There has been a fairly strong communications campaign, both in general media and in parent-focussed media.
“In addition, GPs have been messaging their patients in relation to the children’s vaccine directly encouraging them to take it up. However, the numbers remain low.”
Noonan wrote that the department would continue to promote the vaccine but added: “At this point, however, I have to say that we cannot be confident that the uptake will be increased significantly.”
Expanding rollout to older children
Noonan said an alternative approach being considered was “to broaden the criteria for vaccination to all children up to 17, inclusive”, noting that a proposal to this effect would be sent to Minister Donnelly.
“This will have the virtue of at least increasing usage of the vaccine stocks,” he wrote.
In an email sent on 1 December, a press officer in the department recommended that the vaccine also be made free for all children aged 12-17.
Aoife Gillivan told her colleagues that she had discussed the matter with the HSE and “it is understood that there are plenty of doses available for both at risk groups and the wider u-17′s”.
“It’s better to have no more vaccine left at the end of Dec, then 130,000 doses left on the shelf. These doses go out of date so a big announcement will help take up,” Gillivan wrote.
The free vaccine rollout was expanded to include all children up to the age of 17 in mid-December in a bid to increase uptake levels and waste fewer doses.
Donnelly announced the measure via a press release, telling parents:
“We are all doing what we can, this year more than ever, to protect the health of our families. Getting the flu vaccine is another way to look after your children’s health.
“Children are more likely than adults to get very sick from the flu, and they also may pass on the virus for a longer period of time than adults.
“By arranging for them to get a free flu vaccine, you will help to protect your children from a potentially serious illness. You will also help others in your family and community by reducing the potential to spread the flu.”
Shortly after this, a letter from the department’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and Chief Nursing Officer Rachel Kenna was sent to parents encouraging them to get their children vaccinated against the flu.
The letter noted: “We know that the best way to protect all our children from seasonal influenza is to ensure they receive the influenza vaccine.
“Vaccines are safe and go through a rigorous regulatory process before being recommended for use. The children’s dose of the influenza is administered via a nasal spray and only takes a few minutes. Contact your GP in order to make an appointment and get your child vaccinated.”
However, despite these efforts, 120,000 doses of the vaccine bought by the HSE were destroyed by the manufacturer.
Learning lessons
When asked about the low uptake rate of the vaccine among children, despite the availability of free vaccines, a spokesperson for the HSE said the LAIV vaccine for children was “newly introduced in Ireland for the 2020/2021 season”.
“Experience from the UK has shown that uptake of the vaccine increased year on year since its introduction.
“Preliminary data based on claims from GPs and Pharmacists to the PCERS (Primary Care Eligibility & Reimbursement Service), show increased uptake in people aged 65 years and older when compared to previous seasons,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the HSE would seek lessons from the most recent flu season when preparing for the next rollout.
“Prior to each influenza season, available data and experience from the previous influenza season is reviewed and plans made to target measures to increase uptake as required,” they said in a statement.
The most recent HPSC report indicates there is still no evidence of influenza viruses circulating in the community in Ireland.
The lack of flu cases in Ireland this winter has been attributed to a change in behaviour as people adhere to Covid-19 guidelines such as mask-wearing, better hygiene and less social interaction.
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If only there was a rainy day fund with millions of euro in it we could use.
@087 bed: If only the government didn’t give 7 billion a year to foreigners and NGOs.
@087 bed: Thanks to economic competence we do have such a fund!
@Del Ray: economic competence or a tax haven scheme?
@Charles Okumbu: agreed
@Charles Okumbu: Okumbu certainly sounds like a foreign name to me.
@Rian O’Sullivan: I work
@Charles Okumbu: Also taking up housing an Irish person requires.
@Rian O’Sullivan: I’m going back to Nigeria in 6 months. Too expensive here.
@Rian O’Sullivan: so, should an Irish person who will not work, draws benefits be given housing ahead of a migrant who does work? Me, I am giving it to the migrant who contributes all day long.
@Charles Okumbu: Excellent news safe trip home.
@Darius Guppy: No there should be no free housing given out full stop be it to Irish or foreign.
@Rian O’Sullivan: Really there are no borders, but you don’t need to be so afraid Rian
@087 bed:
We do not have a rainy day fund
Ireland’s national debt one of the highest in the world at €42,000 per person
By 2030, the Irish state will need an additional €8b a year relative to just before the pandemic to maintain current service levels across areas like healthcare and pensions.
1.24pm, 21 Feb 2024
34.4k
144
IRELAND HAS ONE of the highest gross public debt levels in the world according to figures released by the Department of Finance today, at just over €42,000 per person.
At the end of last year public debt in Ireland is estimated at €223b, down from €236b at the end of 2021 but around €20b higher than just before the pandemic.
@087 bed: apple tax is well gone
Ireland’s national debt one of the highest in the world at €42,000 per person
By 2030, the Irish state will need an additional €8b a year relative to just before the pandemic to maintain current service levels across areas like healthcare and pensions.
1.24pm, 21 Feb 2024
34.4k
144
IRELAND HAS ONE of the highest gross public debt levels in the world according to figures released by the Department of Finance today, at just over €42,000 per person.
At the end of last year public debt in Ireland is estimated at €223b, down from €236b at the end of 2021 but around €20b higher than just before the pandemic.
If only our tax money didn’t have to fix Ukrainian BMW cars we might have money instead for our disadvantaged Irish schools!
@Dan The Man: they do love the German cars all right
@Dan The Man: If only we could finish the worlds most expensive building…. for the children like
This was known well before now,hidden just like the homeless figure, the lying of number of houses,the increased on private health, electricity, the operations preformed on children who didn’t need,and not on the ones who still waiting after promises made.
Ireland seriously needs to stop with wastage and with immediate effect stop funding NGOs ..at very least streamline why so many for homeless? Migrants, energy, etc, some with only 4 on staff on a salary of 100k ..
If an audit was done on every single homeless charity/ NGO and checked wages and expenses, and checked what those expenses used for…all the government grants and donations there would be serious questions to answer and justify that expenditure and homeless figure still increasing …
@KO: the swines would still get away lightly just look at dee forbes ffs..
@Maire Hicks: How could we forget, yet that is what they hope for.!
@KO: Absolutely and don’t forget.. lessons will be learned yadda, yadda yadda, it’s ridiculous.
Tell the government your school is an IPAC center and watch as the millions roll in.
@Ichabod Crane: Tell the government you identify as an ipas centre
The fact that schools often have to ask parents to bake buns and cakes so that they can be sold back to the same parents in order to raise money for basics such as teaching resources illustrates just how farsical funding in the education sector is in this country.
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. FFG strategy.
Remember, before the election, we were told the opposition were “the bogey men” who’d ruin the country if they got into power…
The people voted FFG back in, again…
And now we’re being drip fed the bad news by FFG that the country is already in ruins.
The people voted for this so that’s what you get wait till the economic storm hits our government still won’t care they will still get the big wage and us peasants will be thrown the crumbs while our government look after war torn countries and people who are bleeding this country dry we are on a downward spiral and it will be worse than 2007/8
@giles wolohan: Well done Giles. You’ve just demonstrated why we need to spend more on education. Grammar, punctuation, oh dear!
@Fran Ken: ah would you grow a life
@giles wolohan: I work with immigrants who have better writing skills than Irish people. This is despite the fact that English is not their first language. You should be embarrassed.
@Fran Ken: as I am dyslexic I do ok not worried what you think but to my 80 odd likes to your 0 likes on both your comments win win for me and please don’t comment back I don’t answer fools and me being the bigger fool to answer you in the first place.And I never mentioned any minority of people so your immigrant rant could be seen as slightly a racist comment toward .e be very carful when reading as you say bad grammer
@giles wolohan: Saying immigrants are smarter than Irish is racist? Maybe it is, but not to immigrants. As for the 0 votes, I think I hit a nerve. Truth hurts.
@Fran Ken: are you still awake
TDs need to be contacted about billions spent on ipas centers and going money overseas and tell them it must stop now ,our kids been made second class citizens in their own country , it’s a money racket ipas center for TDs and their cronies who get to own them and not be named!!! fffg traitors
I blame the new 20% tariff for every next crisis/faluire!”
@sakk sa: i blame our government
@sakk sa: it’s obvious who to blame. Cost of EVERYTHING gone out through the roof and the Dept. hasn’t kept pace allocating funding. Schools doing fundraisers and asking for parents to donate – in a first world “apparently rich” country. Go figure!!!
Sure the hundreds of millions wasted daily by our Government, OPW and others would sort this in a blink.
And these are the good times, wait ’til the economic storm hits!
Everything has always been underfunded. History of poverty had us believing it’s good honest ‘character building’ stuff. lol.
A non-story. 34 schools out of many thousands got their books wrong. Could be many reason, many genuine. There’s a fund and system in place to help. Lets call it a 540% increase and activate the wrath and keyboard warriors of the far-left.
@Del Ray: AJ Products in the Ad channel… beautifully played algorithm! Our opinions and ego are more of a reason for outrage than all the supposed causes put together. I wonder if we’re some kind of galaxy wide psychological experiment.
It’ll be grand, if the (majority) Christian kids just keep eating the halal food, blessed by an imam and offered to ‘allan’, that (minority) muslim kids ‘must’ eat, and that no Christian parent was consulted about.
@Ed Brennan: A holy war! lol
If any of the school are catholic schools with a catholic ethos and prayers at morning and lunch and end of day and gender separation and prepare for communion in all of 3rd class and confirmation in all of 6th class and do religion using the catholic religion curriculum and have a parish associated to raise money and a priest sitting on the board why is there no financial support from the church. Just calling a spade a spade here. They are look for it both ways. All children should have equal access to education without discrimination in clean and healthy environments by non bias teachers in a open accepting school environment. From experience this is not reality. If a catholic school has other means why drain the coffers, go ask daddy for some money see how far he will support you.
Apple tax is well gone
Ireland’s national debt one of the highest in the world at €42,000 per person
By 2030, the Irish state will need an additional €8b a year relative to just before the pandemic to maintain current service levels across areas like healthcare and pensions.
1.24pm, 21 Feb 2024
34.4k
144
IRELAND HAS ONE of the highest gross public debt levels in the world according to figures released by the Department of Finance today, at just over €42,000 per person.
At the end of last year public debt in Ireland is estimated at €223b, down from €236b at the end of 2021 but around €20b higher than just before the pandemic.
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