DUBLIN: Although thousands of people in Ireland will be vaccinated in the coming days, Professor John Gallagher has warned that public health guidelines must be strictly adhered to in the event of a serious outbreak of the virus.
Prof. Gallagher, a doctor who received one of the first COVID-19 vaccines in Ireland, said that vaccination was a turning point in the fight against Coronavirus and warned that the war hasn’t yet ended.
He said the country is currently in the grip of a major third wave of the COVID-19 virus, and described the vaccine as the country’s “pathway to freedom”.
The new variant of COVID-19, which was confirmed in the UK, has also been confirmed in Ireland, so extra caution is needed. Prof. Gallagher, a Cork-based occupational health consultant, therefore reminds people to continue to follow health guidelines, including social distances.
“You could see this (third wave) happening with all the interest in the Christmas period, travel and the rest. Boy, are we now stuck in that third wave. Numbers are pushing up, there is a lot of anxiety around the place but, for the first time and in contrast to the other waves, now we can point people in the right direction. We have a way out,” Prof. Gallagher said.
“As far as I am concerned, this is the ‘pathway to freedom’ as regards to getting away from COVID-19. But we must not forget this is a really big wave (of cases) that is upon us at the moment. We are not going to see the peak for another couple of weeks. Even with the vaccination programme, we cannot afford to drop our guard with wearing masks, social distancing and reducing contacts,” he added.
Prof. Gallagher received Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Cork University Hospital (CUH) alongside other frontline health workers, including doctors, nurses, porters, receptionists and strategic hospital support staff.