Younger people aged between 18 and 40 years can be given the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines under recommendations from NIAC to the government, the Irish Mirror understands.
The State’s vaccine advisory body has also said the interval between first and second doses can be cut to four weeks, senior government sources have confirmed.
Hundreds of thousands of people waiting on their second vaccine can now expect to be fully vaccinated sooner.
These are mainly people aged between 60-69 and vulnerable people in cohort four of the State’s vaccination programme.
While younger people can also be expected to get their vaccine sooner if the government adopts NIAC’s advice, which is likely.
The gap between the first and second dose of the jab was initially 12 weeks which was cut to eight weeks and now it’s likely people waiting on their second jab could get it sooner once the government adopts the new four week gap advice.
A source said NIAC’s recommendation “is very welcome” as it will “help to get ahead of the Delta variant.”
They added that the government has been “anxious” that hundreds of thousands of people aged 60 and over as well as those who are vulnerable, are still waiting on their second vaccine dose while the Delta variant is “looming.”
