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IT IS LIKELY that large numbers of the population will need booster shots of the vaccine later this year and into next year, the Cabinet was told today.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly got government approval for a purchase agreement for 1.8 million doses of the Moderna vaccine for use in 2022.
He also got approval to exercise an option for an additional 1.1 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for delivery in 2022.
Cabinet heard significant progress has been made in the roll out of the vaccine program, however, ministers were told that the scientific advice indicates that variants will continue to evolve, and that vaccine immunity is not indefinite.
It also heard that vaccination should be extended to persons under 16 years of age.
“Therefore, it is considered likely that booster shots will be needed for a very high proportion of the population over the coming months and next year,” a spokesperson for government confirmed this evening.
Ireland has already entered into multiple contracts for the delivery of vaccines across a range of manufacturers for delivery this year and in 2022.
By the end of June 2021, Ireland will have received 5.3 million doses of the four vaccines approved so far.
Ireland is contracted to receive up to another 11.2 million doses between July and the end 2021, including CureVac, if approved by authorities.
A recent purchase agreement with Pfizer will see 4.9 million doses in 2022 and 2023.
Ministers were also told that that interval between the first and second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been shortened from 12 weeks to eight weeks, with the roll out of the second doses to be complete in mid to late July.
As of 20 June, 629,000 people in the 40 to 49 cohort have registered for a vaccine. The plan is to administer 300,000 vaccine doses this week.
There are 294 new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Ireland today.
The numbers in hospital continues to fall, with the Department of Health reporting that 39 patients with Covid-19 are in hospital today, including 13 in ICU.
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Is that sarcasm..?
The *drab* colours of the old punt??
I’m fond of the euro, but the punt was lovely – fabulous old Irish art on it.
Am I on glue? Am I remembering it incorrectly?
I agree the art on them was very good but I do think the colours were fairly drab.
I like glue
Fairly drab, good, great, fantastic, who cares unless you can buy more for it,
You gotta love the nun on the old fiver.
Or not.
With the old punt you actually felt like you had real money that was worth something in your pocket. A 50 euro note now goes nowhere. Monopoly money.
@Karol Aww, all the pretty colours. Should we have put Barney the dinosaur, Elmo and Zig and Zag on the old punt? Would that have been colourful enough?
Len,
No, colours would have sufficed.
Miss getting a few horse monies off the oul mother.
Nice picture of Bertie on the 20
You are right. The old Irish tender was fantastic…I remember asking my grandfather about the people on the notes and him telling me stories about ‘old’ Ireland. Unfortunately that’s now lost forever with the Euro
I thought the Euro would have nudey pictures by now lol.
Drab colours of the punt? The punt had so much more character. And so much more value. Wish we had never adopted the euro!
I don’t know about not adopting the euro, but the old notes were far better. Surely the EU can agree on some universally admired people like Einstein and Beethoven to put on the euro notes.
There was nothing wrong with adopting the Euro. It was been driven off a cliff by Fianna Fail that was the problem.
A common currency was, in theory, not a bad idea. But the euro was badly run from the get go. Too much political grandstanding and not enough fiscal, economic and social considerations. It wasn’t entirely Fianna Fail’s fault. Sure, they were the biggest culprit when it came down to the local Irish economy. But they can’t be blamed for failed ECB policies in relation to Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, etc. So, as I said, we should never have joined the euro. A better conceived common currency, yes. But not the euro.
Greatest financial con job in history adopting the euro.
Faces on notes look better than bridges.
Ah yes our old £50 that used to last for weeks not like the new €50 which seems to vanish in minutes, fond memories……….
So that’s what a £50 looked like – don’t think I ever had one of those in my pocket. And I didn’t even know the £100 existed!!
I remember once seeing an old £50 when I was little and I remember being profoundly mesmerised. Nowadays €50 are as common as the old fivers!!
Preferred the old notes.
More character.
More of a cultural icon / connection. When you held them in your hand you knew you had money, real money, worth something.
These new ones are insipid. Bland.
Could be from any old place in Europe.
I miss the old money , heading into town on a night out with 20 quid in your pocket . happy days ..
Ah yes the old money. For 5p you could get a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the Polo Grounds.
Everything was better back then for sure.
Monopoly money soon.
“I prefer old money….money was better in them days”
as if i give a fook as long as i have any of the stuff
I remember well the one and only time I saw a £100 note as a child. To my young eyes it looked like a bed sheet. Even a £50 note was an event to break down the local.Would the bar man have change or the worry of it being fake….
Worth abut 10$ Next Year.
Send me a few dozen to examine
IMO, the nicest set of notes we ever had was the Lady Lavery collection.
That nun had a fiver on her head.
If money talks then €20 has little to say.
Wasn’t there an auld fella’ on the back too in a coat? Called “Scrotum” I think he was.
Should send every1 a new €20 note. Way better way to circulate them…
Jesus who gives a flying f*ck about the colour of the money as long as you have loads of it! It could be covered in sh*te and you would still spend it!
Any plans next year for a 1916 commemorative €5/€10/€20 note?
I was listening to a 1980s recording of Fr. John O’Connor O.P. talking about a saint in the 1800s predicting that Europe would be united under Germany and that Europe would share the same currency until 22 countries had it and then Germany would cause its break up of its Empire when 22 countries shared the same currency.
19 share it now just 3 more if you believe in Saints…??? Love the weird but take most with a pinch of salt…
You can’t fold any of the Euro notes a certain way to make a picture of Reg Holdsworth from Corrie like you could with the old £10 note
Will they still be as hard to get?
have your say