by Louise Doyle
A LEADING public health specialist in the north west has called on people to take up the next Covid-19 booster vaccination in the wake of a new variant and an expected surge in infections.
Dr Anthony Breslin is urging for a strong uptake of the next round of booster dose vaccinations in September amid a forecast rise in Covid-19 cases.
His call comes as the Health Service Executive (HSE) has confirmed the more transmissible variant known as Eris has been detected in Ireland.
Sixty-four cases have so far been confirmed, with the World Health Organisation classifying it as a “variant of interest”.
TrolleyGAR data from the HSE on Tuesday showed there were 24 Covid-19 positive patients in Letterkenny University Hospital.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Dr Breslin said there are outbreaks within the community.
“What we are experiencing here is probably similar to the rest of the country. We are getting some outbreaks in terms of community transmissions in residential and hospital settings.”
Dr Breslin said that while there is a slight more transmission in the community he is not perturbed by it at present. But he strongly called on people to get the next booster vaccination when it becomes available in September to help combat a rise in ICU hospital cases.
“The flu vaccine will be available in September and the Covid-19 vaccine at the end of September and I urge people to avail of these vaccinations. They work and they are safe. We will probably have an upsurge in three to four months in ICU. The upsurge is not seasonal, we see a rise every three months and we expect one in November.”
Dr Breslin said booster vaccination uptake is disappointingly low in Donegal.
“Generally, I think people saw Covid went away and did not opt to get a booster vaccination but we still have many vulnerable people in our community, such as the elderly. We don’t know how someone will react when they get Covid, it can affect two people completely differently.”
Dr Breslin said no age group in particular is susceptible to the latest variant.
He called on anyone experiencing symptoms to take a test and not to mix with others if the test is positive.
He said it was difficult to know the level of home testing because there is no onus on the person to document their result online.
Meanwhile, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre said that Eris, a subvariant of Omicron, is more transmissible than previous circulating variants and has been associated with outbreaks, including in hospitals, in Ireland and in the UK.
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