Deputy CMO, Dr Ronan Glynn insists that there have been no shortcuts in the making of a Covid-19 Vaccine.
Dr Glynn said that we are close to a “significant advance” in developing a vaccine. However, he also stated that people must be willing to receive the jab.
This comes after a study found that a third of people have heard conspiracy theories, discouraging them from taking a vaccine.
It was also found that 34% of people in the UK have seen anti-vaccination conspiracy propaganda, usually on social media.
39% of people who get vaccine information via WhatsApp, will believe conspiracy theorists claiming the vaccine is being developed just to make money.
But research from the Department of Health found that 75% of people will take the vaccine, when it becomes available.
Dr Glynn’s Statement:
Dr Glynn stated that many have been questioning the rapid progress of this vaccine. Normally, it takes many years for a vaccine to be produced.
In his statement, he mentioned several reasons for this rapid progress.
“First, there have been enormous levels of investment as well as scientific and medical research, on a scale never previously seen in vaccine development”.
“Second, because of the high number of new cases of Covid-19 across the world, the vaccine trials were able to quickly measure differences in disease risk, between those who received the vaccine and those who received the dummy or placebo vaccine”.
“Third, many of the processes which normally take place one after the other in vaccine development have instead been running in parallel”.
Recently, the UK began rolling out their vaccinations against Covid-19. More information here.
While in the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), approved Pfizer’s first vaccine on Friday night. See here.
Uncertainty & Scaremongering:
Dr Glynn stated that these latest developments are a big step forward, in the fight against the Pandemic.
“People should take great encouragment from these developments”.
He added, “We can be confident that the successful implementation of this programme, will mark a significant advance in our approach to this pandemic”.
He was quick to accept that people will have concerns, “Of course many people will have questions. They will no doubt be faced with rumour and misinformation, particularly online”.
“To counter this, transparency and trust must be the cornerstone of our approach to addressing uncertainties and building confidence”.
Glynn’s latest comments come after the Seanad’s leader criticised elected representatives for “scaremongering”.
An RTÉ survey found that three of the elected TD’s Mattie McGrath, Richard O’Donoghue and Michael Collins said they will not be getting the vaccine.
McGrath feared that the vaccine was being put through too quickly. Collins questioned the jab’s ingredients, while O’Donoghue said he wanted to “wait and see”.
