PEOPLE AGED BETWEEN 60 and 64 will be able to register online for a Covid-19 vaccination starting today.
The HSE’s vaccine portal has been open to people between the ages of 65 and 69 since last week.
As of Wednesday night, more than 147,000 people have registered for their vaccine.
People in the 60-64 age bracket will be able to register on the HSE website for their vaccine in the coming days, as follows:
The vaccine being offered to people aged 60 to 64 is the AstraZeneca vaccine.
AstraZeneca has been approved for use both by the European Medicines Agency and the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC).
The HSE said people are being asked to register by age on specific days initially to avoid delays.
People registering for their vaccine on the HSE website will need:
People who don’t have all of these, or who would prefer not to register online, can call HSELive on 1850 241 850 for assistance with the registration process.
Registration remains open for people aged 65-69 and people can register online or on the phone at their convenience.
Johnson & Johnson
The NIAC met yesterday to discuss the European Medicines Agency conclusion that the benefits of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine outweigh the risks of unusual blood clotting as a very rare side-effect.
However, NIAC will not be providing a recommendation on the use of the vaccine until next week.
Almost 15,000 doses of the single-shot vaccine have arrived in Ireland but have yet to be administered.
Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the government was “waiting on further advice from NIAC” about the J&J vaccine and that he expects a recommendation on this “early next week”.
He later added that he would hope the vaccine could be used for all vaccination cohorts and age groups.
“My hope is that Johnson & Johnson would be for all cohorts … let’s wait to see what NIAC says on that,” he said.
The single-dose J&J vaccine is seen as key to Ireland’s vaccine effort over the coming months, with over 600,000 doses due here up to the end of the June.
The decision by NIAC on the J&J vaccine will also influence a forthcoming decision on whether Ireland will increase the gap between the first and second doses of mRNA vaccines Pfizer and Moderna.
With reporting by Rónán Duffy and Press Association
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