Press release
Post Cabinet Statement - Recovery and Resilience: The Path Ahead - 11 May 2021
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
We continue to progress through the stages of recovery from the pandemic. Thanks to the efforts of the Irish people, we are keeping the virus under control, the vaccine programme is gaining momentum and we are in a position to progress with the gradual and safe reopening of our economy and society.
This week sees a number of restrictions lifted, with an emphasis on outdoor activities and a moderate increase in social contact. Our aim is to keep moving forward, with the full reopening of retail from next Monday, 17 May and further restrictions lifted in early June.
This week the plan is to distribute approximately 250,000 - 270,000 vaccines across the follows groups:
The latest Amárach research shows a steady increase in vaccine uptake attitudes with approximately 70% saying they will definitely get the vaccine when offered and 16% saying they probably will take it.
The Social Activity Measure (SAM) study undertaken with the ESRI finds that support for the vaccine remains strong, with approximately 80% of the population having either received a dose already or intending to receive the vaccine. The majority of the rest are unsure, with consistently less than 10% saying that they will not take the vaccine.
The programme is underpinned by an agile and responsive framework which will continue to support rapid reaction to developments (supply changes, updated medical advice) in relation to the vaccine. The Department of Health is currently considering a revised operational proposal from the HSE on foot of recent recommendations from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) on the use of AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines.
The vaccine programme is having a very positive impact, with decreases in serious illness, hospitalisations and deaths from the virus. Significant protection is now in place for those in older and more vulnerable groups and the number of cases in long-term residential care, healthcare settings and among healthcare workers is now greatly reduced.
There have been over 1.8m vaccines administered in total:
This is based on data up to the week ending 1 May 2021.
In the last 4 weeks there have been 212 cases among those aged 75 years or over, compared with 6,793 in the first 4 weeks of January, and 1,677 in February.
There were 138 hospitalisations of those over 65 years in last 4 weeks compared with 2747 in first 4 weeks of 2021.
19 of confirmed cases of COVID-19 notified in week 17 were known to have been hospitalised.
19 deaths reported in cases age 65 or over who have been notified in the last 4 weeks vs 1,677 in the first 4 weeks of 2021.
1 death has been reported for cases aged over 65 years who were notified during week 17.
The proportion of healthcare worker has decreased from a high (for phase 3) of 16.4% in week 3, 2021 to 2.1% in week 17, 2021.
The highest number of of healthcare worker cases occurred during wave 3, in week 1, 2020, with 3,564 HCW cases were notified.
In week 17, 69 of healthcare worker cases were identified.
Between weeks 13 and 16, only 1 new nursing home outbreak was notified per week.
No new nursing home or community hospital/long-stay unit outbreaks notified in week 17 2021.