On 15 December 2020, the Minister for Health announced Ireland’s National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy. The first vaccine was approved for use on 21 December 2020, with the first dose administered in Ireland on 29 December 2020. A second vaccine was approved for use on 6 January 2021 and the approval of additional vaccines is anticipated in the coming months.
In light of the rapidly deteriorating public health situation and the widespread prevalence of COVID-19 in the community, it is clear that the prompt implementation of Ireland’s vaccination strategy is the only viable way out of this pandemic. With this in mind, employers need to get to grips with some novel and complex issues that will arise this year as some, but perhaps not all, of their workforce is vaccinated. In this publication we consider some of the key issues (including data protection concerns), that employers are likely to encounter as the vaccination strategy is ramped up and more of the working population become eligible for vaccination.