‘Take whichever vaccine is offered to you’ advises GP

A STRABANE GP is advising people to take “whichever vaccine is offered to them”.

Dr Ciaran Mullan was speaking this week as it was confirmed under 30s in the UK would be offered an alternative vaccine to AstraZeneca, and as the Republic stopped using it for people under 60. 

Urging people to get their vaccination as soon as it’s available to them Dr Mullan explained “The public need to trust the authorities to make the correct vaccine available and that’s exactly what is being done. The appropriate vaccine will be given to each group.”

Speaking about the roll-out of the vaccination programme at Strabane’s Riverside Practice Dr Mullan explained, “Uptake has been fantastic, over 95 per-cent of anybody who is called is getting vaccinated. The housebound are done as well. GP practices have been tasked with looking after everybody over 70 and  the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) groups  so that is where we have put our focus, and then the large vaccination centres have been going through the other age groups and they are down to the over 40s.

“At the minute the vaccination centres have the capacity for the younger age groups so we are still working with the over 70 and CEVs  and giving second doses. Most of this week we have been vaccinating at St Pat’s Hall and we are well underway with second doses. We are well established now and the vaccine delivery has been quite good. They curtailed us a bit initially meaning we could only do a clinic when we knew we were going to have vaccines in the fridge, but at the minute the supply is going ok.

“We have been very impressed by the pick-up, everybody is very keen to get their vaccine and we are delighted about that because it means people have  a good sense that this is a way to protect themselves and their families.”

Turning to any concerns people may have about which vaccine they receive  Dr Mullan explained, “In terms of AstraZenaca  the official advice in the groups we are vaccinating is that the benefits far outweigh the risk of any adverse effects. The risk is extremely small and the benefit and protection from the vaccine is still a priority. All  the official regulator bodies in Europe and the UK agree with that advice, so that’s why we are continuing with using the AstraZenaca vaccine, it’s still a very key part of the vaccination campaign.”

Dr Mullan continued,  “The appropriate vaccine will be given to each group – at the moment  GPs are using AstraZenaca and  the vaccination centres are using Pfizer and AstraZenaca, but  when it gets to the under 30s  the risk/benefit ratio is different and it may be that  alternatives such as Moderna and Pfizer will be are offered then. We don’t have any clarity around that just yet. They have started to use Moderna in England and Wales so it will come here. We need to think about vaccination as a world-wide issue all these vaccines are being made available and we should be tackling it across the world in terms of getting as many people vaccinated as possible.”

Explaining that the vaccination programme is already proving a success Dr Mullan urged people to remain vigilant. He said, “Yes there is a  drop in community numbers, and we also have a significant drop in the number of people who are sick in hospital. However this doesn’t mean we can stop taking precautions – we need to make sure people  are limiting their contacts, they do social distancing and regular hand-washing. All this  will mean as restrictions relax, hopefully with people doing the basics right and with the vaccination campaign, we will see case numbers remain manageable. It’s also important for people who have symptoms of Covid to get tested – if you develop a high temperature, new cough, or a change in smell/taste then you must get tested and if positive you must self-isolate.”

Adding his thanks to all the staff at the Riverside Practice and in St Pat’s Hall Dr Mullan  assured the practice will continue to push out vaccinations as soon as they are received.