Online vaccine registration for 60-64-year-olds to open
Those aged 64 are being asked to register first, while 63-60-year-olds will be able to register over the following days on the HSE's vaccine portal.
Online registration will open on Friday for the last of the over 60s cohort on the HSE’s vaccine portal.
Those aged 64 are being asked to register first, while 63-60-year-olds will be able to register over the following days
People in this age cohort are set to receive their vaccinations in the coming weeks.
The HSE’s vaccine portal has been open to those between the ages of 65 and 69 since last week.
To date, more than 143,000 people have registered through the online system, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said, with vaccinations of 65-69-year-olds already underway.
Over 143,000 people aged 65-69 have now registered on the online registration system for their COVID-19 vaccination.
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) April 22, 2021
Vaccination of this group is already underway across the country.
Tomorrow the online registration system will opens for those aged 60-64. pic.twitter.com/ddgEdGQBPA
The HSE said it has taken people less than 10 minutes to complete the online registration and "in some cases, considerably less" time.
People who want to register online require their PPS number, Eircode and e-mail address. Those unable to provide this information are advised to register by phone. The number is: LoCall: 1850-241850 or from outside Ireland: 003531-2408787.
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) are due to meet later today to discuss rolling out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which forms a key part of the State's vaccination programme.
Almost 15,000 doses of the single-shot vaccine have arrived in Ireland but have yet to be administered. Niac have yet to decide whether or not they will be restricting the J&J jab to a specific age cohort.
It is not known when Niac will issue its recommendation. It may not come until early next week.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has urged Niac to allow the J&J vaccine to be given to people under the age of 60.
Last week, Niac ruled that the under-60s should not be given the AstraZeneca vaccine due to a similar rare blood clotting issue.
Public health expert Gabriel Scally said he believes that Niac will advise the Department of Health to use the J&J jab on all age groups, and not just over-60s like the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“It seems to have this very, very rare side effect which is very much similar to AstraZeneca,” he said.
“So they may draw a comparison between the two, even though the data and the number of cases is relatively smaller in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”
Ireland is due to receive 600,000 doses of the one-shot Janssen vaccine by June.
Over 1.2m vaccines have been administered in the country as of April 20.
Update on our COVID-19 Vaccine Programme:
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) April 22, 2021
Almost one and a quarter million vaccines now administered. pic.twitter.com/5gD2WYSj3W
Figures show that just over 9% of Ireland's over-16 population is completely vaccinated.
