A DELAY in rolling out the cervical cancer vaccine for first-year schoolgirls will cause logistical difficulties and cost money, Labour Party health spokeswoman Jan O’Sullivan said yesterday.
The Department of Health maintains that the vaccine will be rolled out to some 30,000 first-year students before the end of the term, which is just over a month away.
However, the second part of the vaccine would need to be administered some two months after the first.
Because this date would fall during the summer break, it is not clear if this shot will be given by GPs, at clinics or at schools. The Health Service Executive is currently finalising details of the plan.
There would an “unwanted and unnecessary logistical nightmare” in delivering the scheme when schools are closed or students were away on family holidays, Ms O’Sullivan said.
It would also cost money for a public information campaign which should have been spent on the vaccine programme, she said
