Ireland's vaccine rollout plan could see people who are in the 18-64 year old cohort get appointments to receive their dose by the end of April.
Under the current vaccine programme people aged 65 years and older living in long-term care facilities, frontline healthcare workers, people over the age of 70 and people aged between 16-69 years old who are deemed as “very high risk” are currently in the process of receiving their vaccines.
The next groups to be offered their Covid-19 vaccination appointments are people aged people aged 65 to 69 at high risk (group 5), other people aged 65-69 (group 6) and people aged 16 to 64 who are at high risk (group 7).
High risk people aged between 16-64 years old include people with cancer, chronic heart disease, chronic kidney and live diseases, and chronic neurological condition or respiratory disease, including severe asthma and cystic fibrosis and diabetes.
People suffering from obesity and severe mental illness including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder would also be classified in the high risk cohort to receive their vaccinations.
The HSE has said that it hopes to have the public portal open form those aged in the 65-69 year old cohort to book their appointments for the vaccine, available from April 19.
When it is their time, people will be contacted by their GP to book an appointment at either a vaccination centre, GP surgery or community pharmacy depending on the area.
Vaccinations are carried out by qualified and trained healthcare workers, including hospital doctors, community medical officers, nurses, GPs and pharmacists.
This new timeline has been set out by the HSE and Department of Health after it was announced that the programme would be revised to vaccinate people based on age, a decision which has left many frontline workers, such as teachers and gardaí, frustrated at the prospect of waiting until the later summer months to be vaccinated.
