LAST UPDATE | 14 Apr 2021
PEOPLE AGED 65 to 69 will be able to register to get the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from 10am tomorrow, either online or by phone.
A section on the HSE website will go live that will allow people aged 69 to register for the vaccine from tomorrow, or after that. From Friday, people aged 68 will be encouraged to register, from Saturday it will be 67 year olds, from Sunday 66 year olds will be encouraged to register, and 65 year olds from Monday.
“To avoid delays when we open registrations, we are asking people to register by age on specific days initially,” the HSE said in a statement this evening.
The HSE said that there is no hurry, and that “registering first does not mean a person will get vaccinated first”.
“Registration days are being staggered in this way to ensure we can provide good support to people using the system or calling our phone service.”
Those registering online will be required to provide their PPS number, Eircode, mobile phone number and an email address.
Those registering by phone can call HSELive on 1850 24 1850 for assistance with the registration process from 10am.
This group will be vaccinated around a week after registration opens. Once a person has registered, the HSE will send appointment details by text message, 3-7 days before they are due to get their vaccine.
People in this group will be vaccinated during April or May at one of the HSE vaccination centres around the country, the HSE said.
“The HSE asks for people’s support and patience during this week to ensure an orderly registration. Everyone else will be called when it’s their turn for vaccination.”
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said earlier today that health officials were “working flat out” to get vaccines administered to the population as quickly as possible.
“We are guided by safety and the clinical advice and will continue to be as vaccination is our pathway out of this pandemic,” he added.
Data concerns
The HSE said that data security is a priority, and that the system has been designed to ensure “only necessary information” is captured and stored securely. All information is encrypted in transit and at rest, it said.
User accounts created on registration use two-factor authentication (email and mobile phone number), to provide people with secure access to their own information about their vaccination.
The use of the AstraZeneca vaccine
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been limited for use in over 60-year-olds out of an “abundance of caution”, after incidences of rare blood clotting events were reported.
Around 4-10 in a million people who receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can get these rare blood clots (cerebral venous sinus thrombosis), one of whom may die.
The likelihood of dying from Covid-19 among those aged over 60 far outweighs the rare risk of this side effect from the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Someone aged 60-64 is 85 times more likely to die of Covid-19 than to have a rare blood clot from the vaccine, Professor Karina Butler said this week.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine has been approved for use by both the European Medicines Agency and the National Immunisation Advisory Committee. It is recommended for use in people aged over 60 and licensed by regulators.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say