HSE working on plans for rollout of Covid booster shots

Booster shots and annual vaccine renewals are likely to be part of Ireland’s long-term battle against Covid-19, according to the chief executive of the HSE.

Speaking to Shannonside radio’s Joe Finnegan show, Paul Reid said the health service has begun working on plans for the possible rollout of booster shots should they be needed.

Mr Reid said vaccine renewals may be needed to combat future outbreaks, as well as new variants of the disease, although he added that medical data on the long-term efficacy of Covid vaccines is incomplete.

“I think it’s two assumptions we probably can make,” he said about the future of the vaccine rollout.

“One is that there probably will need to be a vaccination programme into the future and then we need to think about how we plan for that and how we do it – whether that’s boosters or whether it’s an annual renewal of the vaccine.