47 new deaths and 631 Covid cases confirmed
Photo: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin
A further 47 Covid-related deaths have been confirmed this evening by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre.
14 of these deaths occurred in March, 18 occurred in February and 15 occurred in January.
The median age of those who died was 83 years and the age range was 60 to 95 years.
In addition, 631 cases of coronavirus have been reported. This brings the total number of cases since the pandemic began to 224,588.
The death toll from the virus has risen to 4,499.
Data for the latest Covid cases show:
- 317 are men
- 308 are women
- 74% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 29 years old
Some 247 of these cases were confirmed in Dublin, 50 in Kildare, 44 in Meath, 41 in Cork, 32 in Limerick and the remaining 217 cases are spread across 20 other counties.
As of 8am today, 370 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 92 are in ICU. There have been 31 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Nphet confirmed that as of March 7, 525,768 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered. 375,521 people have received their first dose, while 150,247 people have received their second.
The Department of Health has said it will continue to "distribute all available vaccines as quickly as is operationally possible" and that Ireland's vaccine rollout programme is only limited by supply.
It has confirmed that 95% of available vaccines are being administered within seven days of arriving in the country.
The Department of Health has cautioned against people being offered "private vaccines" warning that they may be counterfeit.
The Taoiseach has rejected claims saying the vaccine rollout is in trouble, saying the “system is working”, as 46,000 extra vaccines for Ireland were confirmed.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed this, saying the doses will arrive in Ireland before the end of the month.
He said: “Pleased this morning to have confirmation from Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Ireland will secure an additional 46,500 Pfizer BioNTech vaccines before the end of March.
“When they get here, they will be administered quickly. Efforts ongoing to increase production.”
The biggest delay for the vaccine roll-out has been blamed on delivery delays.
HSE chief Paul Reid said that it was likely that the country will have 1.1m vaccines by the end of the month.
Mr Reid said that a revised target of 1.24m could also be missed if erratic supplies continue from vaccine manufacturers.
