More than 750,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine delivered to Ireland

The majority of the 758,490 doses that have arrived in Ireland have been of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. File picture

More than 750,000 vaccines have been delivered to Ireland, as of March 14.

The Department of Health announced the figure in a statement following the pausing of administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

The majority of the 758,490 doses that have arrived in Ireland have been of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

Some 511,290 doses of the Pfizer jab have arrived here, along with 40,800 doses of the Moderna vaccines and 206,400 doses of the AstraZeneca jab.

Earlier this week, the administration of the AstraZeneca jab was paused due to safety concerns.

A number of other countries suspended use of the vaccine due to a small number of reports of some people suffering blood clots following vaccination.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said that it is of the view that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19, with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death, outweigh the risks of side effects.

Emer Cooke, the EMA’s executive director, told a press briefing on Tuesday there was no current indication that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine was the cause of the “very rare” reported blood clots.

The EMA is to make a final decision on the AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday, “concluding on the information” available.

The Department of Health also announced that of the 758,490 doses that have arrived into Ireland, 617,050 have been administered.

“The manufacturer of the Moderna vaccine has requested that 50% is held back for second doses. Similarly, an appropriate buffer amount is built up and held back for the other vaccines to ensure availability of second doses for the following week,” the Department added.

“Currently, about 95% of available vaccines are administered within seven days of arrival in Ireland.”