First 12-15-year-olds to be vaccinated against Covid in Ireland

Ireland are now vaccinating children aged 12-15 as cases continue to rise

Covid vaccines are now available for children aged 12 to 15 in Ireland. Approximately 75,000 children had registered for the jab by Saturday, just 48 hours after the online portal opened to the cohort - a brilliant uptake.

A number of centres had vaccines available to the age group on Friday but the main rollout began yesterday. While children across the globe have not been as vulnerable to Covid-19, they are still believed to be a key factor in the spread of the virus.

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Ireland's HSE (Health Service Executive) chief exec, Paul Reid, said the rollout of the vaccine to 12-15-year-olds marks a “very strong point” of the vaccine programme.

“Many of those who will have registered yesterday will have already received appointments for this weekend, I’m very happy to say that.

“Our teams and vaccination centres are strongly focused to try and get this job done rapidly and quickly.”

Across the UK, all 16- and 17-year-olds are now being invited to get a Covid jab with just less than 90% of the adult population now having at least one jab - more than 75% have had both.

The rate of new cases is rising in all four nations; there had been a drop off around July 17th but transmission has naturally increased since restrictions ended on the 19th.

2,074 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Ireland, with 229 hospitalised and a further 100 deaths recorded across the UK. Total daily cases also remained above 30,000 for the second day on Friday, with 32,700 new cases reported.

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