Politicians have been gripped by the vaccine jitters this week as nerves falter over the rollout. Backbench and opposition deputies have been airing the gripes of local GPs and constituents as frustration grows over the pace of vaccinations.
For two weeks in a row, the HSE has undershot its own target of 100,000 inoculations per week although it said this is entirely due to the shortfall in AstraZeneca deliveries.
It has promised that this ground will be made up by the end of the month but next week also looks set to also fall short. Given that the Government's entire pandemic exit strategy is based on getting a critical mass of the population vaccinated, the missteps have caused alarm.