AQW 23102/17-22

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 24/09/2021
Answered On Date: 29/09/2021
Priority Written: Yes

Question:
To ask the Minister of Health when the Joint Committe on Vaccination and Immunisation confirmed that a third dose for those severely immunosuppressed will be available in Northern Ireland; and where this third dose will be provided.

Answer:

JCVI issue advice on 1st September 2021 that those persons aged 12 years and over who are severely immunosuppressed should be offered a third dose of vaccine.

The vaccination of those eligible individuals will require co-ordination between primary and secondary care. The vast majority of individuals are likely to be identified by their secondary care clinician but some individuals may only be known to their GP.

Trusts have now begun the process of identifying those eligible individuals, contacting them and making arrangements for them to receive their third dose from the Trust.

For those known only to their GPs, the latter have begun identifying those eligible individuals on their patient lists. If these individuals are not also receiving care via secondary care, GPs will issue a letter recommending they receive a third primary dose via a community pharmacy using the Moderna vaccine. Individuals aged 12-17 known only to their GP will be referred to their local Trust for vaccination.

This vaccination is separate from any Booster vaccination these individuals would receive.