Digital Desk Staff
Nursing homes around the country are expected to begin vaccination against Covid-19 on January 11th according to a draft timeline by the HSE.
The document, seen by The Irish Times, details the roll-out of over 70,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which will be administered over a six-week period.
The first stage of vaccination, involving people over the age of 65, resident in long-term care facilities is expected to be complete by mid-February, assisted by the HSE School Vaccination Programme.
Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI), which represents approximately 80 per cent of Ireland's private and not-for-profit nursing homes, confirmed the roll-out "will commence on a small scale from the end of the first week in January".
Almost 10,000 dosed the vaccine, which was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Monday, will arrive in Ireland on St Stephen's Day, with 31,000 doses to follow shortly after.
The Government said it expects to receive 40,000 doses of the vaccine weekly in January and February, with each person requiring two shots as part of the inoculation process.
Seven nursing homes will receive the jabs on January 11th, with vaccinator teams not due to work through the weekends according to the HSE draft.
The HSE expects smaller nursing homes with less than 30 residents will be able to receive the shots in one day, with a team of four vaccinators.
The teams will then return three weeks later to administer the second dose of the vaccine.
