Dentists welcome Government plan for sector to help with vaccination delivery

The Chief Executive of the Irish Dental Association (IDA) has welcomed the Government’s plan to involve dentists in the delivery of Covid-19 vaccinations to the public, alongside GPs and pharmacists.

Speaking today, Mr Fintan Hourihan said: “The IDA has been advocating for this for weeks, so we welcome Minister Donnelly’s comments. The inclusion of dentists in the vaccine rollout is positive news for the entire population. We await conversations with the Department of Health as to how this will work, but dentists are willing and ready to take part now and time is of the essence.”

Mr. Hourihan added that the Government must honour its promise to begin the vaccination of dentists themselves from February 8th, following a series of meetings between the IDA and senior HSE officials, Department of Health officials and Ministerial representatives over the past week.

“The HSE has told the IDA that it is confident that it will have sufficient supplies of vaccines to complete the first dose of vaccination of category 2 healthcare workers, including dental teams, by the end of the February. Their predictions are not contingent on the approval and delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine. According to the HSE, the second doses will be provided within the first three weeks of March.

“It is critical that dentists are vaccinated as soon as possible, so that they can assist fully in the delivery of vaccines to the public and continue to offer essential healthcare as they have done since the start of the pandemic.”