More than 200,000 have received the Covid-19 vaccine

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The Executive of the Health Service has said that more than 200,000 people have received the Covid-19 vaccine.

During the last week, a total of 51,200 vaccines were completed, 44,900 administered in acute care hospitals, 1,500 people received a first dose and 43,400 the second.

HSE CEO Paul Reid said 6,300 vaccinations were administered in long-term care facilities, of which 3,800 received their first dose and 2,500 their second as of last Sunday.

He said the total number of vaccines administered to date is 219,200.

Speaking at an HSE briefing, he said that the HSE will do “everything in its power” to complete the deployment of Covid-19 vaccines for more than 70 years within the original timeline.

But, he said, you must first reevaluate the implications of not using the AstraZeneca vaccine for this cohort of the population.

Reid said that “we have always been very clear that this first quarter was going to be uncertain and unpredictable … between supplies and the most appropriate use of each supply.”

He said the HSE has delivered all the vaccines “in a safe and timely manner” and that the daily reporting of vaccination numbers will begin next week.

Reid said that vaccination of those over 85 will take place beginning in mid-February, as the HSE is eager to vaccinate the most vulnerable.

He said the decision is now political, and that the next 48 hours will be spent reorganizing and realigning the best way to deliver Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines to those over 70 with the agreement of GPs.

Mr. Reid said there are 480,000 people over 70 who need vaccinations, and while the new policy will have significant implications “it does not throw the plan completely up in the air” and said “we will not leave anyone out.”

Read more:
Lack of data on AstraZeneca jab reason for decision over 70 years
Vaccination of over 70s ‘may be slower’ – Varadkar
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Mr. Reid said that the logistics of vaccinating older people with Covid-19 mRNA vaccines requires the organization and additional locations outside of GP practices to be set in the correct locations.

He said the type of sites needed will need space for observation and vaccination areas, along with cooling capacity and administration areas, and said the plan is to work with the GPs who have the strongest relationship with more than 70 in the community.

He said the HSE should review the supply of the Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines after the initial priority group has received its second dose.

Reid said the good news is that Ireland now has three vaccines to use and can continue to vaccinate the rest of healthcare workers in a more timely manner using AstraZeneca’s supply of vaccines.

He said the HSE will once again collaborate with IMO in terms of realigning the vaccination plan.

Reid said they will have to find locations that can accommodate multiple GPs in one location.

He said teams are working to reshape the plan.

The hospital system is “still too hot for us to have any level of comfort,” he said, urging the public to keep taking public health measures and not get sick.

Reid said progress has been made overall, but the number of hospitalized at this time is still 50% higher than at the peak of the pandemic last April.

A total of 305 people are in ICU throughout the country, who remain in response capacity.

Reid said there are 280 people receiving advanced ventilation outside of ICUs and that about a third of them will likely need to be transferred to the ICU or will not recover.

Also speaking at the briefing, Director of Operations Anne O’Connor, HSE’s winter plan is “key” to keeping the healthcare system running throughout the winter and beyond, and there are 427 of the 566 beds for specific acute cases now open.

“We are making good progress on acute beds,” he said.

There are also 33 “hard reset initiatives” in place, where the sites have identified extended opening hours and increased opening hours, to address the requirement to manage covid and non-covid cases.

Ms O’Connor said in today’s HSE briefing that there are 208 intermediate care beds open now, which is “behind target” due to the number of outbreaks in residential care settings and unavailable staff. due to Covid.

At the briefing, Clinical Director Dr Colm Henry said that Ireland now ranks 12th among the top in Europe for 14-day incidence rate.

He said that our drop rate is among the best in Europe at the moment, but our number of cases is still too high.

He said that most of the deaths caused by Covid in this country have taken place in nursing homes and hospitals.

560 Covid-19 Outbreaks in Hospitals and Care Settings

Health services are dealing with 560 Covid-19 outbreaks in hospitals and residential care settings.

O’Connor said there are currently 132 “open” outbreaks in acute care hospitals, along with 428 outbreaks in residential care.

The outbreaks “continue to be a challenge for us,” he said, with the highest levels of outbreaks in the southern and eastern regions, where they are “quite significant.”

The HSE currently supports 1,466 long-term residential care facilities, Ms. O’Connor said.

Meanwhile, 34% of nursing homes across the country are dealing with Covid-19 outbreaks.

However, the number of hospital staff unavailable due to coverage dropped from 1,053 two weeks ago to 738 at the end of last week.

She described this as a “good and noticeable reduction” but noted that there are still hospital staff members testing positive for Covid-19.



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