irishtimes– Just over 700,000 Covid-19 vaccines were administered in April, substantially less than the hoped for target of 860,000, HSE figures show.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid said earlier that there was “great momentum” on the vaccination programme, tweeting that almost 200,000 thousand vaccinations had been done last week and “over 788,000 done through April”.
“Our revised plan will aim to continue momentum and work down through the ages with available supplies,” Mr Reid said.
HSE sources acknowledged that the 788,000 figure included vaccination numbers from a few days at the end of March and the beginning of May, as these days were counted as “April weeks”.
In the calendar month of April, HSE figures show that just 707,000 doses of the vaccine were administered, substantially less than the hoped for target of 860,000. The programme has been hampered by supply difficulties and by restrictions imposed on the use of some vaccines.
The programme has been hampered by supply difficulties and by restrictions imposed on the use of some vaccines.
This is expected to be the busiest week yet for the programme, with 220,000- 240,000 vaccinations scheduled and the HSE online registration portal will open to those aged 50-59 in the coming days. Ministers will this week consider plans to accelerate the provision of vaccines to that group.
However, changes to the restrictions on the use of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, allied to fluctuating delivery schedules, have presented Ministers with a choice of accelerating the programme for under-50s or potentially having hundreds of thousands of unused doses by mid-summer.
Mr Reid said on Sunday that while the idea of providing vaccines in parallel to different age groups may seem fine to some, it could create issues.
He warned that if people in their 50s were still waiting for vaccines while those in their 30s were receiving them, it would not be good from a public health perspective given the older cohort is deemed to be at greater risk from Covid-19.
Mr Reid said on Sunday that while the idea of providing vaccines in parallel to different age groups may seem fine to some, it could create issues.
He warned that if people in their 50s were still waiting for vaccines while those in their 30s were receiving them, it would not be good from a public health perspective given the older cohort is deemed to be at greater risk from Covid-19.
