Jab to protect 28,000 babies from severe RSV illness to be offered over autumn and winter

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is understood to be drawing up plans to secure funding and offer the new vaccine, which experts have deemed safe and effective, to around 28,000 babies born as the feared virus season hits.

Even if just half of parents accept the vaccine for their newborns, it will result in 453 babies being spared hospitalisation and up to 48 avoiding intensive care.

Last winter there was another surge of the highly contagious RSV – the respiratory syncytial virus – which is potentially deadly and can leave some children extremely ill, suffering severe bronchiolitis and pneumonia and struggling to breathe.

Under the minister’s plan, parents will be encouraged to agree to vaccinate their newborns before leaving the maternity hospital and it would be effective for up to five months, the average length of the RSV season.

The vaccine is immediately ­effective when administered and could reduce hospitalisations by up to 83pc.

Children’s hospitals in Dublin are overwhelmed with admissions and attendances of children with RSV and other winter viruses which can have a knock-on effect other young patients, including those with scoliosis. This can lead to important surgeries being cancelled due to lack of beds and intensive care space.

Last year, there were 1,397 RSV hospitalisations in infants under a year, and the majority of these, 1,017, were in infants under six months of age.

There were 118 paediatric ICU admissions in infants younger than one due to RSV in the later months of last year and the first months of this year. Adult intensive care beds had to be placed on standby for very sick children.

Mr Donnelly is believed to be anxious to act on the recommendations of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac), the country’s immunisation experts. Niac found the vaccines are safe and effective.

RSV have only recently been developed and a number are now in place including one by Pfizer, where a pregnant woman is immunised, passing on protection to her unborn baby. It is available privately.

NIAC has also advised analysis of cost effectiveness and programmatic considerations are required to determine the most appropriate permanent RSV immunisation strategy. The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) is also doing an assessment .