The news the world was waiting with bated breath for was announced in November, a viable COVID-19 vaccine. Now, in December, governments around the world are making advanced purchase agreements and planning their COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. 

Taoiseach Micháel Martin told Virgin Media that although the vaccine won’t be available before Christmas, it will be “wonderful Christmas present, as in, a voucher for the next 12 months”. 

Rollout of COVID-19 Vaccine in Ireland

Micháel Martin has said the State had signed up to six advance purchase agreements for COVID-19 vaccines. Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, gave a breakdown of the amounts Ireland would receive of each vaccine, if approved, when appearing before the Oireachtas Health Committee:

  • Pfizer-BioNTech: 2.3 million doses
  • Moderna Theraputics: 875,000 doses
  • AstraZeneca: 3.3 million doses
  • Jansen: 2.2 million doses
  • Sanofi: 3.3 million doses
  • CureVac: TBC 

The plan for rolling out any of the COVID-19 vaccines in Ireland will be presented to government on December 11th. This will include information on: 

  • Priority groups for vaccination (most likely front line workers and nursing homes) 
  • Logistics for administering vaccines (GPs, pharmacies, etc)
  • Consent forms for administering the vaccine
  • Storage of the vaccine

Stephen Donnelly said it’s his unambiguous view that the State should cover all costs associated with the vaccine. Making the vaccine free to the public ensures that there’s a greater uptake in people getting vaccinated. At least 70% uptake is needed to create herd immunity amongst the Irish population. 

Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, stated that he was confident the vaccine rollout here would begin in January. This would hopefully result in widespread immunity by October 2021. 

Rollout of COVID-19 Vaccine in the UK & Europe

Goldman Sachs has forecast that more than 70% of people in developed markets will be vaccinated against COVID-19 by autumn 2021.

On Wednesday, it was announced the UK government had authorised the rollout of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. With 40 million doses bought, this rollout will begin next week focusing on priority groups such as health care staff, nursing homes and nursing home staff. They hope to vaccinate half the population by mid-March. 

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has yet to give regulatory permission for any COVID-19 vaccine. It is hoped that this will happen by December 29th and the European rollout can begin by January. Because of Brexit, the UK regulators didn’t have to wait for the EMA’s approval. 

In Spain, its population of 44 million has been divided into 15 groups to prioritise who gets vaccinated first. They have put in place a three-stage immunisation plan with the first stage starting in January. This will see roughly 2.5 million people vaccinated. It includes health professionals, those living in care homes, and the people that care for them. The second and third phase will see the larger population being vaccinated, but who depends on which group you’re in. The Spanish government has signed contracts for 140 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from six different companies.

Portugal is to announce its national vaccination plan in the coming week. Its government has signed contracts with five companies, which will total 22 million vaccines. So far, it is understood the vaccines will be administered first to elderly with chronic diseases, followed by residents in care homes, professionals in care homes, health care professionals, security forces and civil protection. Depending on EMA approval, it’s hoped the arrival of the first vaccines and the start of the rollout will be in January. 

Rollout of COVID-19 Vaccine in the USA

In the USA, the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine is hoped to begin in mid-December. The FDA Advisory Committee is meeting twice this month to review the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, both of which applied for emergency approval in the USA and Europe. With this fast rollout, it’s hoped half the population of both the USA and Canada will be vaccinated by May. 

COVID-19 Vaccine & Travel

Alan Joyce, head of Qantas Airline, said that the airline is looking at amending their terms and conditions to make it mandatory for anyone wanting to travel with them to have proof they received a COVID-19 vaccination. While this may become mandatory for all long haul flights, Ryanair as Chief Executive Eddie Wilson stated that it’s not really relevant for short-haul flights.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 300 airlines worldwide, is currently looking at a digital vaccination passport. This would be issued to people who have proof of getting the COVID-19. It would then be digitally linked to their normal passport. 

Aer Lingus has echoed what most in the Irish travel trade have been campaigning for, rapid, affordable and scalable testing. This would be in the form of rapid antigen testing, which has already been rolled out at airports around Europe.