The HSE was forced to give away over 300,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines after just one quarter of Irish children were given the jab.
Poor uptake in this age group is now likely to significantly add to the stress expected in the health sector over the coming winter months as services struggle to cope with a ‘twindemic’ of flu and Covid.
Covid cases in Ireland have seen a surge yet again, with over 2,100 Covid cases reported over the past week, a figure that is believed to be much larger but not recorded due to the lack of PCR testing.
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On September 23, around 312,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for children were donated from Ireland to Mexico due to a lack of demand for the jab for children in Ireland, reports the Sun.
Figures show that just one quarter of the 482,000 children aged between 5 and 11 eligible for the vaccine received the dose, despite extensive awareness campaign from the Department of Health to promote the jab to parents.
The data comes as a surprise to many as around 84 per cent of the Irish population opted to receive the first and second doses of the Covid vaccine - one of the highest uptakes in the world.
However, further figures released to the Sun show Ireland has donated a total of 4,051,500 vaccine doses to nine countries since the beginning of the pandemic.
The value of the donated jabs cost a total of €25million.
The vast majority of vaccines that have been donated have been either AstraZeneca or the Johnson & Johnson brand, which the HSE has largely stopped using after switching to the more effective MRA jabs from Pfizer and Moderna.
Earlier this year, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly advised the Cabinet that there was more supply than demand for Covid-19 vaccines when it came to countries donating the jabs.
The Fianna Fail Minister’s memo also raised concerns about “vaccine wastage risks” and advised the Cabinet ministers that the Government will seek to delay further orders of Covid-19 vaccines that have already been purchased.
The news comes as a health expert said mask wearing on public transport is a "no brainer" as Covid cases continue to rise in Ireland ahead of a predicted surge this winter.
Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at UCD Jack Lambert told Newstalk that the health service will be overwhelmed by a "twindemic" over the coming months as patients present with both the flu and Covid.
The news comes as HSE staff have been warned to expect up to 20,000 patients with respiratory diseases this winter.
Professor Lambert said: "More people are going to be infected. More people are going to go home and spread the infection to family members.
"So, wearing a mask on public transport is a no brainer.
"It's a sensible thing to do. It's part of other mitigation strategies."
He added: "It would be nice if everyone were to just do it."
"There are consequences for catching Covid.
"Now, people are not dying like they were before in the first wave of Covid with Delta, but Omicron is much more infectious; much more people are getting infected, people are going to be out of work."
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