DUBLIN: The COVID-19 vaccination program begins today at four hospitals around the country. 10,000 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived in Ireland for initial distribution.
The vaccine, which arrived on St. Stephen’s Day, were stored for three days before being sent to Beaumont and St James’s hospitals in Dublin, Cork University Hospital, and University Hospital Galway. Beamount Hospital has said that 500 doses of the vaccine will be given at the hospital in the coming days.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said 40,000 vaccines per week are expected to be delivered in January. More vaccines will be available in February and March. Mr. Varadkar said that when they become available, 3% of the population will be vaccinated.
The vaccine will be available in more than 580 nursing homes across the country from next Monday. The government and the HSE said that the introduction of a vaccination programme in hospital settings was part of the establishment of a psycho-social environment.