COVID-19 & the Dental Industry in Ireland
What are the government doing for dental in Ireland?
The governments current stance with dental: COVID-19 has hit us all hard since March 2020, a year later we aren’t much better off and dental has definitely been placed on the back burner at times by the Irish government! With no state aid for dental practices and the vaccine roll-out only prioritizing dental now Feb 2021.
Fintan Hourihan and Elaine Hughes have done great work conversing with the HSE and health officials in regards to this industry, and we can only give them a huge thank you for their efforts!
“The HSE has told the IDA that it is confident that it will have sufficient supplies of vaccines to complete the first dose of vaccination of category 2 healthcare workers, including dental teams, by the end of the February. Their predictions are not contingent on the approval and delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine. According to the HSE, the second doses will be provided within the first three weeks of March.
“It is critical that dentists are vaccinated as soon as possible, so that they can assist fully in the delivery of vaccines to the public and continue to offer essential healthcare as they have done since the start of the pandemic.”
The start of vaccine rollout for dental is this week, and as dentists have noted themselves they are clinically trained to assist with delivery. Thus, Dentists are likely to be involved in the delivery of vaccinations against Covid-19, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has said.
Separately, the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) will tell the committee that more than half of the absences among medical and dental staff were due to Covid-19 – the largest proportion for any staff category. So the vaccine roll-out is brilliant breakthrough for dental and medical staff!