People over 85 years old are being vaccinated from today.
Every county in the country is set to have a vaccination centre to speed up the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.
People over the age of 85 are starting to receive their first dose from today. This marks the first time the jab has been administered to the general population.
So far, vaccines have only been administered to frontline healthcare workers and those in nursing homes. Now, the rollout is ramping up with the general population receiving a jab.
Those over the age of 85 are first on the priority list and this will then move down to the over 80s, over 75s and then over 70s. This age cohort accounts for 90% of deaths from Covid-19.
37 vaccination centres will be set up nationwide and people will be vaccinated either there or in their local GPs.
Here is the full list of their locations:
So far 1.8% of the population has been fully vaccinated. The final aim is to eventually vaccinate at least 70% of the population.
Health officials say it’s still to early to say if vaccinations are having an effect on the spread of Covid-19 but there are encouraging signs. Case numbers are falling and there has been less outbreaks in nursing homes.
