Pharmacists have insisted that they should play a prominent role in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine when it is introduced into Ireland.

According to the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), a safe and effective vaccine could arrive into the country within weeks and pharmacies have the capacity to deliver a minimum of 10,000 vaccines per day nationwide.

"Pharmacists have the training and experience to play a prominent role in the vaccination campaign. Over the past decade, pharmacists have safely administered hundreds of thousands of flu vaccines in Ireland.

"Pharmacists have the capacity to administer a minimum of 10,000 COVID vaccines per day across the country, which would be an enormous asset to the vaccination programme," commented IPU secretary general, Darragh O'Loughlin.

The IPU noted that other countries, such as the UK and US, have already said that they will be using pharmacists to roll out their vaccines, however so far, the Government here has not confirmed who will be administering them.

"Leading public health experts, such as Dr Gabriel Scally, have suggested that the task to vaccinate the population should not fall solely on GPs. Should Ireland's GPs, who regularly cite capacity constraints, be tasked with this additional responsibility, it could lead to delayed diagnoses in other illness areas. Using and resourcing the capacity of pharmacies is a logical way of avoiding this potential problem" Mr O'Loughlin commented.

He said that after months of lockdowns and restrictions, the Governments "owes it to everybody to roll out the vaccine as quickly and seamlessly as possible".

Mr O'Loughlin also called for community pharmacists and pharmacy staff to be prioritised for early access to the vaccine "on the same terms as all other frontline workers".

"We have come through so much in 2020 - lockdowns, social isolation and economic challenges. Now 2021 has the potential to be a year of renewal, but first we must continue to fight back against the virus, and soon each us will have an opportunity and a responsibility to support the campaign to rollout the vaccine. Pharmacists will play whatever part is asked of them," he added.