Despite pressure from the opposition about the slow speed of the Covid vaccination rollout, things are going pretty decent for Ireland when compared to other countries.
As of February 9, 248,284 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:
- 158,904 people have received their first dose.
- 89,380 people have received their second dose.
But we rank higher than the likes of Germany, Italy, France and Russia.
Obviously, the United Kingdom are streets ahead, with 20 out of every 100 people across the four nations being vaccinated so far.
Serbia, Malta, Denmark and Lithuania lead the way in the EU, with rates of 10.6, 10.1, 6.3 and 5.3 respectively.
But with the HSE's latest vaccine update, Ireland's rate of 5.0 is not that far behind.
Currently, the plan is to get 70% of the population jabbed by September.
People aged 70 and over should have received both doses of their Covid-19 vaccine by mid-May, the Health Minister has said.
Stephen Donnelly said that despite disruptions to the supply chain and changing delivery schedules, it should still be possible to vaccinate the entire population by September as planned.
But he warned that this projection is based on "highly conditional forecasts".
Vaccination of the over-85s group will begin from Monday, with over 20,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be distributed to GPs next week.
That figure will rise to 50,000 the following week, Mr Donnelly told the Dail.
He said: "The schedule I have would suggest that the group (over 70s) will have finished their second doses by mid-May.
"But as always, these things are dependent on the supplies arriving.
"If we get the supplies that are forecast, and we know these things go up and down, it would be around mid-May the second dose is complete."
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