Ireland began its Covid-19 vaccination campaign on Tuesday by administering a dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to a 79-year-old woman at a Dublin hospital, the health service said. country.
Annie Lynch was the first person in the country to receive the vaccine at St James’ Hospital in Dublin, he said. Health staff and patients at four hospitals were also vaccinated.
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“Today is a new day. It marks a new chapter in our fight,” Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told RTE Radio.
Donnelly said Ireland planned to vaccinate the 75,000 people living or working in nursing homes and tens of thousands of other health workers by the end of February.
Earlier on Tuesday, a senior official said Ireland may be able to give the Covid-19 vaccine to everyone in the country who wants one before August in a “very optimistic situation” that would depend on time. consent for other vaccines.
The seven-day average number of daily cases of the novel coronavirus has tripled in Ireland to nearly 1,000 over the past two weeks, after restrictions were reduced before the Christmas holidays.
The government has since closed restaurants and is due to meet on Wednesday to discuss further restrictions.
He also called the vaccine program a day after he was criticized for acting too slowly after receiving the first doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in December. 26, as part of a European Union-wide rollout.
A total of 86,894 people have been infected in Ireland since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and 2,205 people have died as a result, Ministry of Health data showed on Monday.
This story was published from a wire group group with no text changes. Only the headline has changed.