Gino Kenny warns on Delta risk, calls for nursing home inquiry
Gino Kenny addressed the minister on COVID-19 issues, calling for a public inquiry into last year’s nursing home events and praising the vaccine rollout logistics. He warned about the Delta variant, supported vaccination of 18-24 year olds, and raised concerns about gaps for 60-69s and Sinopharm-vaccinated citizens in Abu Dhabi.
Nursing home inquiry
Gino Kenny said a public inquiry into what happened in nursing homes last year is inevitable, citing the interests of loved ones, relatives and the wider public. He framed the inquiry as necessary to establish accountability and public confidence.
Assessment of vaccine rollout
Kenny described the national vaccine rollout as a logistical success and praised local centres, noting his own excellent experience at City West. He nevertheless questioned specific policy choices around timing for some cohorts.
Delta variant risk and international comparison
He referred to advice from Neffert and warned that Ireland could face a sharp rise in deaths, repeating the projection of up to 2,000 deaths over the next three to four months. He noted that Britain appears four to six weeks ahead on cases and rollout and that the Delta variant is increasing rapidly there.
Concerns on age cohorts and vaccine mixing
Kenny welcomed the decision to roll out vaccines to 18-24 year olds, highlighting their role in hospitality and potential vulnerability. He criticised the delay that left some 60-69 year olds up to three months without full vaccination and said ambiguity on mixing vaccines for that group still needed to be cleared quickly.
Sinopharm vaccinations and citizens in Abu Dhabi
He raised a constituency issue for about 2,000 citizens living in Abu Dhabi, largely in the education sector, who received the Sinopharm vaccine. Kenny said they are fully vaccinated but face mandatory hotel quarantine on return and regard that requirement as unfair; he asked the minister to respond in a note on their situation.
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Minister, I too would like to raise serious questions in relation to the programme on RT last night. I think it's inevitable that there has to be a public inquiry in relation to what happened in nursing homes last year in the interests of those loved ones, relatives and also in the public interest. So I think that's inevitable that will happen. Just in relation to the vaccine rollout, Minister, I think it is a logistical challenge which I think this country has been quite good at the rollout and it's gone very, very well. My experience is excellent, I have to say. In City West it was really, really good and that's very, very good. Just in relation to your statement about the rollout of the vaccine for the age cohort of the 18 to 24 year olds, I think that's very, very welcome. This is a cohort that, you know, is in the hospitality industry and could be vulnerable at this moment in time or at a future time in relation to a potential counter-offensive relation to the Delta variant. And it was very, very, very sombre news during the week, you know, when Neffert gave that advice. I think that probably shocked most people in this country that, you know, we could be facing a potential up to 2,000 people dying over the next three to four months. I think anybody would have been literally shocked by that news. We do have an advantage and the advantage is what's happening in Britain at the moment. Britain in some ways are four to six weeks ahead of where Ireland is and their vaccine rollout program is probably four to six weeks ahead. But you can see the directory of the virus and it's not going, it's not plateauing by any means, it's actually going up and it's going up at a rapid pace. The good news is that, yeah, the vaccine rollout is very, really well run in Britain, but the Delta virus is taking hold. So I think that's very important. Just another criticism, Minister, in relation to the cohort of 60 to 69-year-olds. I think it was a mistake to leave a gap of, in some cases, three months in relation to that cohort. I mean, I'm fully vaccinated, but somebody that's 20 years older than me is still not fully vaccinated. I think it was a big mistake, a big mistake. I know it's been addressed, but I think the ambiguity around vaccine, kind of the mixing of vaccine still hasn't been kind of, I think it hasn't been kind of being cleared in relation to that age group. So I think that's very important that that happens very, very quickly. Minister, just in relation to one question that you can send me in a note in relation to a cohort of our citizens that are living in Abu Dhabi. And I know they've made contact with you in relation to their situation at the moment. So there's $2,000 citizens that live in Abu Dhabi, in the educational sector, this cohort of people. So they have got a vaccine called Sinopharm. They're fully vaccinated, but if they want to come back to Ireland at this moment in time, they have to go into mandatory hotel quarantine. And they're not happy about that, because at that time, a number of months ago, that was the only vaccine that was available to them. But at this moment in time, if they wanted to come back to Ireland, they would have to go to mandatory hotel quarantine, which they say is very, very unfair. So hopefully you could address that at a future point. Thanks. Deputy Mick Barrett.
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