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Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said that the government expects to receive at least one million doses of Covid-19 vaccine per month in April, May and June.
This would represent a triple vaccination rate during the second quarter of the year compared to the first three months.
It occurs when the death toll from the virus surpassed the 4,000 mark yesterday.
The Health Department confirmed another 57 deaths, as well as 650 additional cases.
The total number of deaths is now 4,036, while the cumulative total of cases since the pandemic began is 211,751.
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As the rollout of GP vaccines for those over 85 accelerates, the protection provided by a single dose of vaccine may already be affecting official data.
102,000 doses of vaccines were administered to nursing home residents and staff last Sunday.
Incidence of the disease among those 85 and older fell 57 just in the past week, by far the highest reduction for any age group.
166,000 doses of vaccines were also administered to healthcare workers and, at the end of last week, they accounted for 5% of weekly cases, up from 13% three weeks earlier.
To date, more than three-quarters of healthcare workers who tested positive were women.
Consistent with the decline in those infections, men now outnumber women in the daily case count for the first time since the pandemic began.
Health Service CEO Paul Reid said this morning that there has been further progress in the weekly positivity rate, which has dropped to 5.4%.
However, he said, the positivity rates for close contacts is 25% and for domestic contacts it is 33%, which “indicates the high levels of transmission of the current B117 (UK) variant.”
The weekly positivity rate for tests has dropped again to 5.4%. More progress. However, the positivity rates for close contacts is 25% and for domestic contacts it is 33%. This indicates the high transmission levels of the current B117 (UK) variant. So be careful. # COVID-19 @HSELive
– Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) February 18, 2021
The 14-day incidence rate of the virus in Ireland is 261.7.
Counties with the highest incidence rate include Monaghan, Offaly, Dublin, and Galway, while counties with the lowest incidence rate include Clare, Roscommon, Kilkenny, and Kerry.
Eight of the 28 acute care hospitals did not have intensive care beds available, according to figures released last night.
The number of patients with Covid-19 in the ICU remains stable at 151.
However, the total number of hospitalized patients with the virus has dropped to 765.
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