Ireland is set to have 300,000 less vaccine doses than planned by the end of March, health bosses have confirmed today.
And those over the age of 65 would only receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine if European health chiefs don't approve the AstraZenica jab for use in those over the age.
Originally it was expected that there would be 1.4 million doses in Ireland, enough to vaccinate 700,000 people, but it now looks like there will be 1.1 million.
The delay will be a result of the issues surrounding supply for the AstraZenica vaccine, vaccine taskforce head Brian MacCraith told the Oireachtas health committee today.
And he has warned that the expected lower supply - 190k doses in February and 95k in March - could change once again.
The plan is still for GPs to contact over-70s when they're entitled to the vaccine, with the jab carried out in their local office.
At the moment, around 48,000 people are being vaccinated each week and work is ongoing to create the IT systems to ensure the rollout across the country.
Further availability is hoped in April when a Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which is one-shot, could be approved by European health chiefs.
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