James Cox
Over 18,000 people had signed up to the HSE's online vaccination portal just hours after it opened up to 69-year-olds this morning.
Speaking at the weekly HSE Covid-19 briefing, chief executive Paul Reid said people aged 60 to 64 will be able to register for vaccines “well before the end of April”.
Meanwhile, 250,000 people aged between 16 and 59 in Cohort 4 will be vaccinated at centres, by community vaccine teams and GPs.
The vaccine portal opened at 10am and Mr Reid said 95 per cent registered online, with five per cent registering by phone.
It will open for those aged 68 tomorrow, 67 Saturday, 66 Sunday and 65-year-olds will be able to register from Monday.
More than 9,000 people had registered within the first hour of the portal going online.
Registering online
People who want to register online require their PPS number, Eircode and email address. Those unable to provide this information are advised to register by phone.
The Government has said Ireland remains on track to meet its target of easing restrictions in May and giving four out of five people their first vaccine dose by June.
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste moved to reassure the public after a double setback to the vaccine rollout earlier this week was tempered by news of around 550,000 extra doses of the Pfizer jab to be delivered in quarter two this year.
News of the extra jabs secured by the European Commission came during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, and was a “welcome relief” to ministers, sources said.
In a video posted later on Twitter, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the State was on track to exit further restrictions in early May, despite “twists and turns”.
“We’re on track as well to ease restrictions on the 4th of May so lots of things to be positive about,” he said.
“Of course there’s going to be twists and turns. That was always going to be the case but just wanted to reassure you about those things.”
Safety concerns
It came after health experts recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine only be given to people over 60 in Ireland, and delays to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine over safety concerns.
Following the news of accelerated Pfizer deliveries, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told RTÉ: “The commission’s announcement in terms of securing the additional doses puts the puts the programme on track in terms of the key targets.”
