NI health chiefs urge public to 'keep coming forward' for vaccine

The public is being urged to honour Covid-19 vaccine appointments amid safety concerns.

The Republic of Ireland, Italy, Germany and France are among some of the countries to temporarily suspend the use of the Astrazeneca jab, after a handful of reports that patients who had received a dose developed blood clots.

Those behind the jab say there is no evidence of an increased risk and the World Health Organisation advised its continued use.

It comes as the vaccination programme in Northern Ireland is ramped up and extended to include the over 50s.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Michael McBride spoke to reporters after getting his first jab on Monday:

"It's crucially important that vaccination programmes are rolled out.

"The MHRA have looked at all of this data...they see no causal link between the vaccine and these events that are being reported."

Meanwhile the Health Minister revealed he only learned of the move to suspend the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the Irish Republic through the media.

Mr Swann said it was "disappointing'' that he had not been given advance notice of the announcement.

The minister told the Assembly he had asked his chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride to review the terms of Stormont's memorandum of understanding with the Irish authorities on Covid-19 issues following the incident.

He said he had given Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly advance notice of his intention to issue an announcement on Sunday that the rollout of AstraZeneca would continue in Northern Ireland.

In a statement to the assembly, the Health Minister moved to restore public confidence in the jab:

As the House will know the Northern Ireland health service administers COVID-19 vaccines under the expert direction of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The MHRA is the internationally respected UK regulatory body for medicines and approves vaccines for public use only when it is satisfied on grounds of safety and effectiveness.

Whilst my Department is aware of the decisions of some other jurisdictions to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccination as a precautionary measure – in this instance I will again be led by the MHRA experts. They are very clear that members of the public should continue to come forward for their vaccination.

Despite what individual EU Member States are doing it is also important to remember that the European Medicines Agency issued a statement on Thursday to state that the available evidence does not confirm an association with the vaccine. It was also very clear that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any risks.

The World Health Organisation has also stated that countries should continue to use the vaccine.

I do recognise however that any talk over the safety of vaccines can be very worrying so I want to take this opportunity to reassure everyone listening that the evidence shows no correlation between the vaccine and the reported the events of blood clots.

To date 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in the UK. This includes 310,000 doses in Northern Ireland. The evidence available from the UK’s very large dataset shows no unusual correlation between the receiving the vaccine and the frequency at which blood clots occur naturally.

I would therefore urge the people of Northern Ireland to keep their appointments.

In line with MHRA guidance, the roll-out of Northern Ireland’s vaccination programme will continue. As you may now be aware, as of this morning, we have now expanded the programme to everyone aged 50 years and over. And I can confirm that within the first three hours of today alone a further 30,000 people booked doses. That is very reassuring and we should take it as an indication that the vast, vast majority of the local population have confidence in the vaccine.

The Astra Zeneca vaccine is helping to protect the most vulnerable in our community from COVID-19, saving lives and reducing hospitalisation levels. I would urge everyone to look beyond the actions of other jurisdictions and have faith in the extensive evidence the UK already has. The vaccine works, so I would urge people to keep coming forward.