Press release
Minister for Health announces acceleration of Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme - 31 December 2021
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, has announced an acceleration of Ireland’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.
From Sunday, 2 January all of those aged 16 and older who are eligible to receive a booster vaccine can access this service through HSE vaccination centres. GPs and community pharmacies will also be providing this service, on an appointment basis.
Minister Donnelly said:
“In order to maintain momentum and build on the additional capacity put in place by the HSE over the last month within our vaccination centres and in primary care, I am delighted to announce that booster vaccination will now be available for all remaining age groups earlier than scheduled, beginning from Sunday next.”
Minister Donnelly added:
“This acceleration of the programmes means that many of our vaccination centres will now be administering primary, booster and paediatric doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The logistics of this undertaking are not to be underestimated and I would like to thank all those in the Department of Health, the HSE, the vaccination centres, our GPs and pharmacies as well as everyone involved in the logistics for their continued efforts. Further clinics will be scheduled over the coming days. Appointments will be booked through the HSEs online system.
“Ireland has the second highest uptake for booster/third dose vaccination in the EU (adult population). This has been an enormous national effort and the public and our healthcare staff should be hugely proud of this achievement.”
As of 31 December, a total of 2.035m additional/booster COVID-19 vaccines have been administered since this programme began, with 130,000 doses administered so far this week.
Yesterday, (Thursday) 58,000 vaccines were administered.
So far this week, over 6,400 people have also presented for their first vaccine dose or second vaccine dose.
Minister Donnelly said:
"As incidence of disease continues to rise, it is vital that anyone eligible for a primary or booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine receives that vaccine as soon as possible. Please visit the HSE website for more information on vaccine safety, vaccination centres and to book an appointment."