FIANNA Fáil TD for Clare Cathal Crowe has welcomed the changes to the definition of a vaccinated person for the purposes of travel into Ireland, with two Chinese vaccines added to the approved list.
Sinopharm and CoronaVac have both been given the green light, with those who have proof of being fully vaccinated with either of those now permitted to enter the country and the EU.
“I’m glad that sense has prevailed across the European Union,” Deputy Crowe said, adding: “These vaccinations, which have been largely administered in the Middle East and Asia, are now being recognised for their efficacy.”
He continued: “This will make international travel through airports more fluid and will allow a lot of the Irish diaspora, particularly those residing in the Middle East, to return to Ireland without too much complication. I had raised the issue of these other vaccines with Minister Donnelly over recent months and whilst he was very open to my suggestions, he repeatedly made the point that it was the European Medicines Agency and the EU bloc overall that had the responsibility to determine which jabs would be recognised for international travel.
“With Covid very much on the rise, some people will undoubtedly be deterred from travelling internationally over the coming weeks and some may even put off their plans to come home to Ireland for Christmas.”
Deputy Crowe continued speaking on the matter of potential flights, given his stance on the importance of travel to his constituency in the past, saying: “I hope that people will continue to book flights and fly internationally but we need to continue to have a very cautious approach in terms of Covid certification. Only those who are vaccinated or Covid recovered can travel at this time.
“The biggest surge in vaccinations in Ireland took place in June and July of this year, and now according to leading scientists, the efficacy of these vaccines is beginning to wane as expected.
“These people will require booster shots and this in turn should help to reduce the instance of Covid and overall rate of transmission. I recently flew from Shannon to London, and I found that I felt very reassured by the procedures in place in Shannon Airport. In many ways, international air travel could be considered less of a risk than taking a local bus or train. When one travels on an airplane, they know that the passengers around them have been checked for Covid before the flight.
“The inclusion of new vaccines this month will pave the way for more people to travel but also for the depth of Covid tracking to be further deepened.”
