Ireland's immune-compromised population should be 'front and centre' in any queue for vaccine booster shots.
That's according to the Irish Kidney Association, which is calling for the shots to protect the vulnerable.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has previously said a COVID-19 vaccine booster programme could get underway as soon as September.
He said it would be done in conjunction with the flu vaccine, which is usually done in early autumn.
While the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on wealthy countries to suspend the use of vaccine booster shots until at least the end of September.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said the focus should be on getting more vaccines to low-income countries.
Colin White is its national advocacy and projects manager for the Irish Kidney Association.
He told The Hard Shoulder this is about the wider population.
"I think it goes beyond just our patient group, it's the immune-compromised in general.
"So it could be people receiving cancer treatment, or there's a variety of ailments that do put the immune system under challenge."
He cited recent research in the US and UK, which highlighted the efficacy of the vaccines in the immune-compromised "is not great."
"It's good, but it's not as good as the general population - but they have followed this research up with looking at 'How does a booster shot impact?'
"And it clearly has a beneficial impact on the immune-compromised in relation to an immune response".
He says they are basing this booster call on past experience of the virus.
"During the initial waves of COVID, it was quite frightening the rates of mortality - you're talking 20 to 25% rates of mortality for people on dialysis and transplant recipients.
"This is a virus that has our community cocooning for the large part in the last 18/19 months, and we're looking to give reassurance to our community by giving them that extra booster shot that the research is there to show, amongst their fellow patients in other countries, that is has a positive impact".
"We are arguing that when the queue starts that we should be there, front and centre.
"We made a very strong case for the prioritisation of the immune-compromised for the initial vaccine rollout, and they got bumped up considerably up the list because the evidence was there that they were clinically extremely vulnerable."
He also notes that when someone who is immune-compromised gets the virus "the infection tends to last a longer time because the immune system is not so good at fighting it".
And he says this is also about the families of those who are immune-compromised.
"It's not only the patients, it's the families around them as well.
"You have a family member who's immune-compromised, you realise 'If I bring the virus into the household I could lose my family member'.
"It's been quite a burden knowing it, and a one in five mortality rate - it's fairly sobering".
