Accelerates vaccination program for young people; Pharmacies to start vaccinating people aged 18-34 from Monday
DUBLIN: Government is to expand vaccination roll-out programme in Ireland by vaccinating younger people one to two months earlier than planned. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has announced that pharmacies can start administering COVID-19 vaccines to 18-34 year olds from Monday, July 5.
People in this age group will have the option of receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which will be administered at pharmacies, or waiting another week to receive AstraZeneca from vaccination centres.
Those who choose the Janssen vaccine (J&J) can begin registering online or contacting their local pharmacy to schedule a vaccine appointment. About 750 pharmacies across the country will be involved in the vaccination programme from Monday, Minister Donnelly said.
“From Monday 12 July, there will be an online option as well, so when you go to the online portal you now will be able to say yes I’m 18-34, I appreciate I will be getting an mRna vaccine in the future, but actually what I want to do is opt, mainly for AstraZeneca vaccine through the vaccine centre. There will be some Janssen as well, but mainly AstraZeneca through the vaccine centre,” he said.
The online vaccine portal for 30-34 year olds will open on July 9.
The Minister said that those aged 60-69 who received the first dose of AstraZeneca will receive the second dose within the next 10 or 11 days.
Mr. Donnelly believes the EU Digital COVID Passports can be used as a domestic vaccine passport for indoor activities. He also said that the government will evaluate how it has been successfully implemented in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan warned that the Delta variant, which is likely to spread rapidly in August and September, might be severe. The Delta variant is two-and-a-half times more infectious than the other COVID-19 variants.
Meanwhile, the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Johnson & Johnson said yesterday that its vaccine is effective against the Delta variant. The company claims that it has immunity that lasts for at least eight months.
Details and phone numbers of pharmacies in your area that offer COVID-19 vaccine can be found here:
https://www2.hse.ie/Apps/Services/PharmaciesServiceList.aspx
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