The government will “actively” consider issuing Covid-19 vaccine certificates to Irish people who live outside the EU.
The government introduced vaccine certificates last month as part of a European-wide move to allow people to travel abroad. The certificates are also being used for the reopening of indoor hospitality. To date, more than two million people have received their vaccine certificates.
Simon Coveney, the foreign affairs minister, confirmed in a parliamentary question last week that the government would consider issuing the certificates to Irish people living outside the EU. Coveney was responding to Patrick Costello, who asked if the government had planned to issue the certificates to Irish citizens who had been vaccinated in Canada and the United States.
Coveney said: “The EU regulation gives the option to issue vaccination certificates to persons vaccinated elsewhere, with EMA [European Medicines Agency] approved vaccines, upon receipt of appropriate proof.
“The main development focus, at the moment, is on the delivery of the obligations of the EU regulation with respect of persons who received a vaccination or a test in Ireland. Arrangements for provision of vaccination certificates to persons not vaccinated in Ireland will be actively considered once the initial rollout is in place.”
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While the government has said that restaurants and pubs can accept evidence of vaccination from people vaccinated in the US and the UK, it has not detailed which other non-EU countries evidence of vaccination will be accepted. An EU certificate also enables a person to travel freely throughout Europe, subject to local restrictions.
The Department of Health yesterday reported 1,098 new cases of Covid-19. It said 163 people were in hospital with the disease, including 26 in intensive care units.
Elsewhere, more than 10,000 people received their vaccination at temporary walk-in centres across Ireland on Saturday. Dozens of centres have been operating across the country over the bank holiday weekend as the vaccination programme continues.
Long queues have been observed at many centres, with young people among those waiting in line for a first jab. Paul Reid, chief executive of the HSE, said the walk-in initiative would be used again, but not on such a widespread scale as the bank holiday weekend drive.
“Due to the success of it we are looking at how we will utilise it now going forward,” he told RTE. “So we do expect to use it again in a very targeted and focused way. Not just generally walk-ins but very targeted, focused and promoted. So we do expect to use it again.”
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In total, more than two thirds of the 10,000 people vaccinated in the clinics were 19 years old or younger, Reid said.
The vaccination programme for the 12-15 age cohort will also commence this month, in mass vaccination centres, GPs and pharmacies.
Saturday also saw Ireland mark a landmark in the vaccine rollout, when the country overtook the UK in terms of percentage of adults fully vaccinated. It represented a significant turnaround after the early stages of the vaccine programme were hit by delays associated with EU supply issues.
In the spring there was speculation that the UK might even move to donate surplus vaccines to Ireland later in the year to help it address the shortfall in jabs. Since then Ireland’s rollout has accelerated significantly.
Micheál Martin, the taoiseach, said on Saturday that 72.4 per cent of adults were fully vaccinated in Ireland, compared with 72.1 per cent in the UK.
