ONE IN FOUR adults in Ireland have now received at least their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

This is according to the Chair of Ireland’s High-Level Task Force on Covid-19 Vaccination, Brian MacCraith.

A total of 41,337 vaccines were administered on Thursday, according to the latest figures from the HSE. This is the highest number of vaccines administered in a single day so far in the rollout.

The total number of vaccines administered in Ireland now stands at 1,317,165. 934,980 of these are first doses, with 382,185 being second doses.

Current figures available are correct to Thursday, with MacCraith confirming in a tweet that the vaccination programme has surpassed 25% of first doses. Official figures are expected to be released tomorrow morning.

MacCraith has also said that 10% of the adult population has been fully vaccinated with two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Positive facts re Vaccine rollout:

>25% of adults have now received dose 1

>10% of adults are fully vaccinated

>41k vaccinations on Friday
~40k vaccinations on Thursday

This will be our biggest week to date.

165k AZ doses confirmed to arrive next week.#BrighterDaysAhead

— Brian MacCraith (@muirtheimhne) April 24, 2021

The number of people being treated in hospital for Covid-19 has also dropped slightly.

Figures from the HSE’s Covid Data Hub show that there are 163 patients currently receiving treatment for Covid-19, as of 8am this morning

This is a drop of one patient from 8pm last night.

Hospitals with the highest number of Covid-19 patients include the Mater Hospital (18), Tallaght Hospital (18), University Hospital Limerick (12), Letterkenny Hospital (11) and Naas Hospital (11), according to the HSE’s Daily Operations Update.

Included in the total hospitalisations, 48 people are currently in intensive care receiving treatment for Covid-19. 29 of these patients are receiving ventilated care.

St James Hospital has the highest number of ICU patients at 11, while the Mater is currently treating eight.

It comes as the National Public Health Emergency Team confirmed an additional 434 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland yesterday, alongside one further death of a patient with the virus.

HSE Chief Paul Reid says that the support for both public health measures as well as the vaccine programme are helping drive down the numbers in hospital.

Our vaccination programme & public support for public health measures continue to show great benefits as we're now down to 163 #COVID19 patients in hospital & 48 in ICU. Important that we continue this dual approach and we can all soon get back to much of what we value.

— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) April 24, 2021