The Government expects that at least four million people in the State will be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of September.
Updated projections sent by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly to TDs on Wednesday night say the State expects to receive some 3.7 million doses between April and the end of June and a further 3.8 million between July and the end of September. This would mean that at least 4 million people could be vaccinated by that time.
A predicted 700,000 people will be vaccinated by the end of March.
It is expected, however, that most adults will be vaccinated by the end of the summer once additional vaccines are approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in the coming weeks.
Nursing Homes
Waterford Minister of State Mary Butler says vaccinations will still proceed in nursing homes with small outbreaks. There are 111 nursing homes with Covid outbreaks at present, with 72 of these occurring in the past seven days.
She told the Dáil that the plan is to vaccinate in all 585 nursing homes, with 70,000 staff members and residents, by Sunday week, with the first dose of the BioNTech vaccine.
The Waterford TD said if there was a small outbreak, they would proceed as planned:
"However, if there is an outbreak among 50 residents, and more than 80% have Covid, a decision may then be taken with regard to health and safety. The decision will be taken by medical people and the HSE...I accept that there may be public health issues and I acknowledge them. However, if people in a nursing home do not have Covid and their vaccination date is due, and one can be assured by testing that they do not have Covid, it is essential that they get that vaccination."
Moderna Vaccine
The first doses of the Moderna shot arrived in the country on Tuesday, following its approval by the EMA and European Commission on January 6th.
Under the EU's agreement with the US drugmaker, Ireland will receive 880,000 doses.
The Moderna shot is the second vaccine to be approved for use in the EU, while the AstraZeneca/Oxford jab is currently being considered by the EMA, with a decision expected before the end of the month.
The update comes as hospitals remain under extreme pressure and have been ordered to treat the current Covid-19 surge as an “emergency situation” by suspending all non-urgent work and escalating the discharge of patients “with immediate effect”.
