Ireland’s vaccination programme has seen some major accelerations over the past few week,s with pharmacies on board for the rollout and younger cohorts offered access to a dose.
As it stands, around 4.8 million Covid-19 vaccines have been administered here so far, with HSE Chief Paul Reid confirming that we will hit five million by the end of the week.
54% of Irish adults are now fully protected against the severe side effects of the virus while 74% of remaining adults are partially vaccinated.
With reams of information circulating the news this week, here’s everything you need to know about the vaccine rollout and where it’s at:
Under 18
According to the latest reports, those aged 16-18 will be offered the Covid vaccine by September, while the 12-15 cohort can expect their doses by mid-Autumn.
Paul Reid said the plan is “to win the race" between vaccines and the highly transmissible Delta variant by accelerating the rollout, but he warned that "we do have a very risky few weeks ahead."
He also confirmed that Ireland is currently ranking highest in the world for vaccines administered per 100 of the population over the past week.
Pharmacy appointments
Following the announcement that pharmacies would be joining the rollout, many were immediately inundated with calls from people wanting to put their names down for vaccines.
The immediate response means that there are now lengthy waiting lists for limited supplies of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot.
According to reports, there are about 200,000 doses of the vaccines available across 850 pharmacies up to the end of July.
While 285,000 more J&J shots are due in August, previous deliveries have fallen short of the numbers promised, so health officials are cautious of that.
Online Portal
The portal opened last week for all 30-34-year-olds to apply for their dose of an mRNA Covid vaccine.
This week, 18-30 year-olds who were unable to nab a pharmacy appointment, are to get a new appointment option online.
The online portal will be updated to allow younger age groups to opt-in to receive a J&J or AstraZeneca vaccine from a vaccination centre.
People in older groups who have previously registered will also be able to amend their choice to opt-in for an earlier J&J or AstraZeneca vaccine at a vaccination centre.
An announcement is due soon for the opening of online registration for people aged 25-29 for mRNA vaccines.
Digital Covid Cert delivery dates
Digital Covid Certs began circulating this week to the almost 2 million people now fully vaccinated against the virus.
The public will receive their unique QR code allowing travel and more via email or post over the coming days.
Health officials have confirmed that the aim is to have all certs delivered by July 19 in time for the lifting of restrictions on international travel.
However, passengers that aren't entitled to their pass yet are reminded that it is not a precondition for travel and that proof of recovery, and negative PCR tests are still accepted for travel.
