A FURTHER 631 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Ireland, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) said this evening.

In a statement, NPHET also reported 47 additional deaths of people with Covid-19. 

The death toll from Covid-19 in Ireland is now 4,499 and the total number of confirmed cases is 224,588.

The statement said 14 of these deaths occurred in March, 18 occurred in February and 15 occurred in January.

The median age of those who died was 83 years and the age range was 60 – 95 years.

Of the cases notified today:

• 317 are men / 308 are women
• 74% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 29 years old
• 247 in Dublin, 50 in Kildare, 44 in Meath, 41 in Cork, 32 in Limerick and the remaining 217 cases are spread across 20 other counties. 

As of 8am today, 370 Covid-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 92 are in ICU. There were 31 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

The Department of Health has also given an update on Covid-19 vaccination figures.

Up to 7 March, 525,768 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Ireland. The country has received a total of 613,650 doses up to last week. 

The department said that Ireland’s vaccination programme is “limited by supply” so rollout plans must be flexible to account for events such as changes to supplies. 

95% of vaccines available are administered within a week of arriving into the country, the department said. 

The statement said the Vaccine Taskforce and the department have been alerted to some offers “around the procurement of vaccines” outside the European Commission’s Advance Purchase Agreements.

These mainly relate to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, but the department said it has been advised that there is no private sector supply, sale or distribution of this vaccine. 

Any offers of private vaccines are likely to be counterfeit, the department said. 

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin said earlier today that Ireland will receive an additional 46,500 Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses in March under the EU procurement framework.

Martin said that he has received confirmation from EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Ireland will secure the additional doses before the end of March. 

“When they get here, they will be administered quickly,” the Taoiseach said. “Efforts ongoing to increase production.”