Niac expected to recommend Johnson & Johnson jab for over 50s
The single-shot Covid-19 jab was expected to play a major role in the Irish vaccine roll-out and was heralded as a "game changer" by Taoiseach Micheál Martin back in February.
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) is expected to recommend the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for those aged 50 and over in Ireland.
However, it is understood Niac also said the jab can be used on younger cohorts where an alternative vaccine is not available.
The decision on whether to accept the recommendation will ultimately be made by the Government based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan.
The single-shot Covid-19 jab was expected to play a major role in the Irish vaccine roll-out and was heralded as a "game changer" by Taoiseach Micheál Martin back in February.
Last week, The European Medicines Agency said the benefits of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risks.
It concluded that there was a possible link between the jab and rare blood clotting incidents and that a warning about unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be added to the vaccine's labels.
Ireland is due to receive 600,000 doses of the one-shot vaccine by June.
Dr Tony Holohan suggested the country remain "cautiously optimistic" as 437 new cases of Covid-19 and one further death were confirmed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) this evening.
This brings the total number of deaths from Covid-19 in the State to 4,874 and the number of confirmed cases of the virus to 247,069.
As of 8am today, there are 184 coronavirus patients in hospital, of which 46 are in ICU.
There have been 19 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Of the cases notified today:
- 220 are men / 216 are women
- 76% are under 45 years of age, the median age is 29 years old
- 169 in Dublin, 62 in Donegal, 40 in Kildare, 29 in Meath, 21 in Galway and the remaining 116 cases are spread across 17 other counties
As of Saturday, 1,385,753 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland.
Some 987,681 people have received their first dose of the vaccine, while 398,072 people have received two jabs.
Commenting on the latest figures, Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, the Department of Health said: “As a country, we have now given a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 25% of eligible adults. In order to protect the vital work of the vaccination programme in offering us all protection from COVID-19, it is important we continue to remain vigilant and careful."
"Right now, we need to protect the progress we have made together."
“While we should remain cautious, we can also be cautiously optimistic," he said.
"Our vaccination programme, alongside the continued commendable adherence of the vast majority of people in Ireland to the public health advice, are the key to exiting this pandemic in the coming months."
Dr Holohan said mixing indoors when disease is still circulating puts Ireland's progress "at risk."
"Please continue to act in the best interests of one another and be safe when socialising," he said.
NPHET is to meet on Wednesday ahead of a Government announcement on an easing of restrictions for May.
The Government is to discuss further reopening plans this Thursday, with non-essential retail, personal services such as hairdressers and beauty salons, religious services and adult sports' training all expected to feature in the next stages of Ireland's road out of lockdown.
Indications as to when inter-county travel, hospitality and household meetings can resume are also expected in the coming days.
Across the country today, tennis rackets and golf clubs were dug out as outdoor sports facilities returned, alongside popular outdoors attractions like Fota Wildlife Park and Dublin Zoo.
While restrictions on household visits and the numbers allowed at weddings haven't changed, the number of mourners who can attend a funeral has increased from 10 to 25.
