Major overhaul of vaccine roll-out to see people vaccinated based on their age

People are to be vaccinated based on their age under a major overhaul of the National Vaccination Programme being discussed by Cabinet.

Ministers are planning to ditch the current framework of vaccinating people based on ages and professions and instead offer people vaccines solely based on their age.

The new plan will not come into force until all over 70s, vulnerable people and those with underlying health conditions are vaccinated.

However, once these groups are vaccinated, the programme will be based on a person’s age.

The Government believes this will be a more equitable way of administering vaccines and will lead to less calls from lobby groups to have their members vaccinated.

It is hoped the new programme will be simplified and more streamlined than the scheme first proposed.

The move follows how the vaccine is being administered in the UK where Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s programme is more advanced than in Ireland.

“It will be fairer and will hopefully get more public buy in,” a Government source said.

The original National Vaccination Programme involves 15 various cohorts of people based on age and profession.

Cohort 10 was due to be key workers in essential jobs who cannot avoid a high risk of exposure and cohort 11 was people working in education sector.

However, people in these sectors would be vaccinated according to their age under the new plan.

Online Editors