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A total of 744 more people have tested positive for coronavirus in Ireland, while 4 more deaths have been confirmed.
The latest figures were announced by the Health Department this afternoon.
(Image: Marc O’Sullivan)
Covid-19 vaccines in Ireland will likely start on December 29 a day earlier than originally planned, HSE chief Paul Reid said.
Pressure has mounted on the Irish health service to start vaccinations immediately after the first doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine arrived here on St. Stephen’s Day.
However, vaccines will not start until later this week, as HSE CEO Paul Reid said “some” vaccines will be made on Tuesday.
Speaking about RTE’s This Week program, he said: “My expectation is that we will get some vaccinations on the 29th, which would be Tuesday.
Reid said the plan was to begin vaccinating people in nursing homes across the country for an initial three-week period before giving them a second dose over the next three weeks.
Priority groups in the healthcare system are also first in line for the jab before moving on to the general population.
He said: “We are dealing with an elderly population, we want to do this well, we want to build trust and we want to ensure a very strong acceptance of the vaccine.
“Safety is our main driver and we will implement it at a pace, but we will do it safely.”
When asked why the vaccine was not being administered over the weekend, Reid said there was a “complex consent process” regarding the elderly and vulnerable.
“Nobody wants this to work faster than me and the HSE.”
In elaborating on the implementation plan, Mr. Reid said that a training program had been established focusing on “community vaccinators who will be mobilized to nursing homes”.
He added that there are currently around 180 community vaccinators who will give the injection in nursing homes and around 1,500 vaccinators in Irish hospitals.
“There is an updated training that must be implemented. This is not just a simple process like any other injection. There are security protocols that have to accompany it. Then we will roll it out to other elements of the workforce, including GPs and pharmacies. “
News of the vaccine launch comes as Ireland experienced the highest number of Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began over the weekend.
Speaking about the increase in cases, Reid urged people to limit their contacts for the next several weeks.
He said: “These are very worrying numbers that we have seen over the past week, particularly in the last three or four days.”
“What we are also seeing in the community is a high level of positivity.
“Equally worrisome is the amount of contacts that people have, we are seeing it go from an average of 2.5 to 3 to more than five at this time.
He added that testing and tracking volumes were now at “alarming levels”, saying the highest daily tests were now at 23,000.
“My call to the public, especially now that we are approaching the New Year, is to really take the right actions to reduce the contacts that you will have in the next few days because the virus is being transmitted at a very worrying level.”
“The public can help the system not to become overwhelmed by reducing its contacts. We call on people to participate in reducing transmission ”.
Mr Reid said that “we predicted there would be more people gathering over Christmas … people have had a really difficult year” and admitted that he knows it is “difficult” for the public to hear him ask them to cut back on their contacts during the holiday period. . .
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