The Health Service Executive raised concerns with the Cabinet about the “practicality” of plans put forward by the National Public Health Emergency Team to restrict indoor hospitality to vaccinated people, it has emerged.
The proposal from the team led to fury among Ministers, even though they accepted it, and to an angry backlash from the hospitality industry and politicians.
The Cabinet’s decision to adopt the controversial Nphet recommendation came despite the HSE privately questioning how the system would work and how it could be set up in a fortnight.
Hospital Report
| Total doses distributed to Ireland | Total doses administered in Ireland |
|---|---|
| 12,143,670 | 10,222,511 |
Sources said the HSE’s concerns – relayed to senior Ministers at the Cabinet Covid-19 subcommittee meeting on Monday night – centred around the “practicality” of the plan.
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There have been opposition calls for an independent review of Nphet’s projections on the impact of the Delta variant in terms of hospitalisations and deaths with some Ministers also said to be pushing for this.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet agreed to postpone the reopening of indoor hospitality – which had been slated to happen next Monday – and instead set a target of developing a plan for a workable vaccine pass system by July 19th.
The decision left restaurants and pubs without a new indicative date for when they can allow customers back inside their premises.
Vaccine pass proposal
There has been significant pushback to the vaccine pass proposal at Cabinet level with a number of ministerial sources saying they believe it will be a “hard sell” and will result in an intergenerational divide.
There was an angry reaction from the hospitality sector.
Restaurants Association of Ireland chief executive Adrian Cummins questioned the legality of the requirement for a vaccine pass and how it was going to be policed.
The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) said it would reject any move to separate out the vaccinated from the non-vaccinated, describing the suggestion as "ridiculous and unworkable".
In the Dáil, Labour leader Alan Kelly claimed the vaccine pass plan was "absolutely bananas", discriminatory, unenforceable and "amateur hour".
It is understood a small number of senior Government politicians were informed over the weekend that the Nphet was examining the new vaccination plan for restaurants and pubs, but the vast majority of the Cabinet were caught unawares.
Nphet warned the Government that a “significant” fourth wave of infection is likely given the increased threat posed by the Delta variant.
It outlined five separate modelling scenarios for the coming months. Under the most pessimistic scenario, there would be 681,900 cases by the end of September and 12,985 hospital admissions as well as 2,170 deaths.
Scrutiny of Nphet
There have been opposition calls for an independent review of the Nphet projections on the impact of the Delta variant with some Ministers also said to be in favour of this. Green Party Minister of State Ossian Smyth made remarks on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta on Tuesday suggesting the Government would seek a second independent opinion from the likes of the World Health Organisation.
A Green Party spokesman said Mr Smyth had been asked if independent scrutiny would be worth getting and that he “gave his personal advice that it would”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Tuesday he did not envisage an independent review taking place.
Mr Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar sought to defend the Government's decision to do a U-turn on its previous opposition to a vaccine pass system.
Mr Martin said Nphet was “quite stark” in outlining the transmissibility of the Delta variant and the impact it could have on Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths.
Mr Varadkar said “The alternative is to keep these services and facilities closed until we reach herd immunity and we can’t say when that is. So this might just be the right way forward.”
There is optimism, however, that the vaccination plan will now accelerate particularly for younger people. The vaccine portal for those between 30 and 34 will open next week “at the earliest”, it is understood.
The Government is becoming increasingly optimistic that all adults could be vaccinated as early as the end of August, depending on supply, instead of September. This is partly due to the advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee that AstraZeneca and Jannsen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccines can now be used for the under-40s.
