THE timing of the Republic's decision to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine could not be worse following weeks of EU supply problems that have left its rollout well behind target.
Cancer patients and those with underlying health conditions are among the 30,000 people due to receive their jab this week but must now wait for a review to take place as part of a temporary "pause" arising from concerns around four serious blood clot cases in Norway - with Germany, France and Italy also calling a halt.
While Ireland's deputy chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Ronan Glynn accepted that it "may be nothing" and they were taking the precautionary step out of an "abundance of caution", the delay comes as major blow for the most vulnerable - particularly when they look to what is happening north of the border.
Within 24 hours of Sunday's deferral, health chiefs in Northern Ireland announced an extension of the Covid vaccination programme to the over-50s at a time when many over-80s in the south are still awaiting their initial shot.
The massive acceleration has only been made possible by a delivery of AstraZenaca to the north last week, the biggest consignment to date.
And despite safety assurances from the UK medicines regulator, the World Health Organisation and the vaccine manufacturers themselves - the doses were trialled on 17 million people with "no evidence" they caused clotting - concerns remain about the impact of the suspension by the Republic and other European countries on uptake rates.
Doctors' leaders were among those on Sunday evening urging people to continue attending appointments while First Minister Arlene Foster said she was looking forward to booking her slot, adding it was a key factor in "leaving lockdown in the rear view mirror".
The north's CMO Dr Michael McBride was photographed receiving his AstraZenaca jab yesterday and, while encouraging others to come forward, sounded a warning about a further wave this autumn.
Dr McBride said that vaccines, while important in helping ease restrictions, were not the "entire answer".
For the Republic's population however, delays in inoculation after months of stringent lockdown measures are leading to mounting anxiety.
Calls were made by the Irish Cancer Society for a "swift and conclusive" probe into the AstraZeneca while the Irish Patients’ Association (IPA) went further and asked for greater clarity from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
"Individual member states basing decisions on varying degrees of caution, be it an abundance of caution, is not the best way forward when the domain of public trust is so fragile during this pandemic," an IPA spokesman said.
With hopes the vaccine review can be concluded in just over a week, the need for clarity on what one virologist described as the "endgame" for the pandemic has never been more important.
