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00:00Good afternoon. The US President Joe Biden has again said he will not extend the deadline of
00:12next Tuesday for the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. Some European countries,
00:18including France, may end their evacuation operations as soon as tomorrow. Efforts are
00:23continuing to airlift 24 Irish citizens and 12 of their dependents out of the country.
00:30Knee-deep in wastewater and rubbish, tens of thousands of Afghans fearing persecution from
00:35the Taliban are continuing to try to climb their way into Kabul's airport. But with just six days
00:42to go until the final pull-out of US troops, few will make it through this way. In this part of
00:49the city, some are charging up to 40 US dollars for just one bottle of water, with aid agencies warning
00:56of a looming humanitarian crisis. The sooner we can finish, the better. Each day of operations
01:03brings added risk to our troops. Contingency plans are being made, but he said some of the risk of
01:10staying came from ISIS-K, an Islamic State affiliate. Every day we're on the ground is another day we
01:18know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both US and allied forces and innocent
01:24civilians. US media reported yesterday that the director of the CIA, William Burns, flew to Kabul
01:31for a secret meeting with the Taliban's top leadership. But the New York Times said he was
01:38not there to negotiate an extension to the pull-out deadline. France has said its evacuation efforts at
01:45the airport will probably end tomorrow, but Britain has vowed to work up as close to the last minute as possible.
01:53And what we'll do is use every remaining hour and day to get our nationals, such as we can, the Afghans who
01:59worked for us out. In the embassy district of Kabul, some people have been queuing for a week to get papers.
02:06But the embassies of most Western countries have already closed. Eleanor Burnhill, RTE News.
02:14A British study has found that protection against Covid from the double-dose Pfizer-BioNTech and the
02:19AstraZeneca vaccines wanes within six months. The Zoe Covid study showed that after five to six months,
02:26the effectiveness of the Pfizer jab fell from 88% a month after receiving the second dose to 74%.
02:34For the AstraZeneca vaccine, effectiveness fell from 77% to 67% after four to five months.
02:44And our science correspondent, George Lee, is here in studio. George, can you talk to us about the size of this
02:48study and does it take into account the now dominant Delta variant?
02:53The study is done really through an app which people have on their phone, which is supplied by this company
02:58called Zoe, which is a scientific company doing all of this research. And this has been operating since March.
03:04What they did was they looked at the situation where people would have registered and explained
03:09that they would have had two doses of vaccines between December last year and the end of July.
03:14And then they would look at all of those people and see, well, from the end of May to the end
03:18of July, did any of them have infections?
03:20In total, they had 411,000 people who were registered who had the Pfizer vaccine and 711,000 or thereabouts
03:29who would have had the AstraZeneca. And then about 76,000 then who didn't have any vaccine at all in
03:34that period. So 1.2 million people. And what they found was in terms of who got infected,
03:39they found that the real life effectiveness of the vaccine against the new Delta variant,
03:45which was the variant from May onwards in the UK, that that decreased every month.
03:50And they're saying that, as you said there in your introduction, the kind of reductions
03:54would be of the order of 14% over the period of three or four months. And according to the
03:59lead professor in this study, it could mean in a worst case scenario that by maybe early
04:05winter, that for those who got the vaccine first, very elderly and people on the front
04:09line in the health care service by next winter, that their protection could be down to 50%.
04:13So there's a case for boosters. Now, it's not new insofar as we were working on booster
04:18vaccines. And we know that NIAC is studying that right now. And the European Centre for
04:22Disease Control is looking at it very, very carefully. And obviously, the European Commission
04:26has orders in for booster vaccines too. But it's further evidence not to be complacent
04:31about being vaccinated and being protected. You still have to mind yourself.
04:35All right, George Lee, thank you.
04:37The country's three teacher unions have reiterated concerns of what they say is the state's
04:43failure to protect staff in early pregnancy from COVID-19. Last term, teachers and other
04:48school staff who were pregnant were entitled to work from home. However, that provision has
04:54been removed for the new school year. Women in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy are not currently
05:00eligible for vaccination. There are calls on the government to widen access to the Student
05:07Universal Support Scheme to students who are from migrant or refugee backgrounds.
05:12NASC, the Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre, says many are unable to attend third level
05:18because they don't qualify for financial support through the SUSI grant system.
05:24I dream to be, I dream to have, I dream to do. My life was in limbo for a long time. Going
05:31to college is the key to unlock my dreams.
05:34It's an aspiration many young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds hope to achieve.
05:40But entering third level for those who hold what are known as Stamp 3 and Stamp 4 permissions
05:45to be in Ireland means SUSI funding is not available to them.
05:49The SUSI grant will really help me a great deal because this will help me achieve my dream
05:54around education and because I really want to go to school and become a social worker in the future.
06:00How am I going to pay like 12,000 like yeah I can get SUSI so it's really hard.
06:06Those on Stamp 4 permissions can work and they try to fund themselves by doing numerous jobs.
06:12It's stressful because you have to go through things you have to work extra to pay and save up.
06:16I had to work two jobs and also attend school like full time so it's been really really difficult for me.
06:21For my course I think it was like 3,000 a year so you know for asylum seekers that are not working
06:27or can't work they can't come up with that type of money.
06:31To me education is a gateway to success.
06:34A new video by NASC aims to highlight the hurdles these young people face.
06:38They want to work in healthcare, they want to work in IT and they're very much the areas that we need
06:45a workforce in so it really does make sense to unlock their access to third level education and allow them to contribute.
06:53The Department of Further and Higher Education says the eligibility criteria for student grants
06:59including the nationality criteria is reviewed annually and it says Minister Simon Harris intends
07:05to engage with Cabinet colleagues in relation to the criteria.
07:08Alba Keneally, RTE News, Cork.
07:11Two Gardie who were murdered by the IRA in 1940 have been posthumously awarded medals for bravery.
07:18Another who was seriously wounded in the same incident was also remembered with a Scots medal.
07:23They were among 13 members of the force to be honoured as a ceremony today including
07:28two Gardie who helped free Dublin dentist John O'Grady who was kidnapped by the INLA in 1987.
07:36It was a proud day for the Gardie and their families being honoured. 13 Scott medals for
07:42bravery were handed out for service from 1940 right up to the modern day. Marie Finlay was two
07:49when her Garda father Richard Highland was murdered in a shootout with the IRA in 1940.
07:56She'd pushed for this recognition for him and two others also posthumously honoured for their role in
08:02the incident. How are you feeling today? Emotional, proud and a success that has come to pass that we
08:11will get the Scots medal. Brian Code retired several years ago but in 1987 he risked his life to help
08:19secure the release of Dublin dentist John O'Grady who'd been kidnapped by a notorious INLA
08:25gang. You're under intense pressure and under fire all the time and of course they could lay down
08:30fire on us where we couldn't subsequently maybe return fire because of caution for civilians around
08:36the place. I know there was a school nearby and the teachers had to get the kids in out of the
08:40playground so all of those things play through your mind and you think right we have to survive
08:47this and we have to try and get the guys. Many of the medals were awarded to Gardie who'd confronted
08:52armed gangs. One officer was honoured for disarming an armed man who was threatening to self-harm.
08:58All the recipients, the ceremony was told, had demonstrated exceptional courage.
09:04Conor McCauley, RTE News. And that's Wednesday's lunchtime news from everyone here. Good afternoon and
09:10take care.
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