COVID-19 vaccination in the Republic of Ireland
The COVID-19 vaccination programme in the Republic of Ireland is an ongoing mass immunisation campaign that began on 29 December 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland.[3][4] Ireland's vaccination rollout has been praised as one of the most successful rollouts in the world and was ranked number one in the European Union in terms of its percentage of adult population fully vaccinated,[5] and was also ranked number one in the EU for the number of booster vaccines administered.[6]
Date
29 December 2020 – present (3 years, 3 months ago)
Health Service Executive (HSE)
85% of the Irish eligible population (5+) are fully vaccinated[1]
77.1% of the Irish adult population (18+) have received a first booster dose[2]
27.7% of the Irish adult population (18+) have received a second booster dose[2]
8.5% of the Irish adult population (18+) have received a third booster dose[2]
As of 20 February 2023, 12,744,694 vaccine doses have been administered, of which 4,107,865 people have received at least one dose, 3,819,227 have received their second dose and 4,817,602 have received a booster dose.[1]
Background[edit]
Preparations[edit]
On 1 December 2020, the Government of Ireland approved an advance purchase agreement for 875,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.[7][8][9]
On 15 December, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced the Government's National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy, which outlined the country's high-level plan for safe, effective and efficient vaccination of the Republic of Ireland, while safeguarding continued provision of health and social care services.[10][11][12]
On 17 January 2021, the Government requested early deliveries of the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as discussions to secure early delivery of the vaccine got underway.[13][14][15]
Timeline[edit]
December 2020[edit]
Annie Lynch, a 79-year-old woman, became the first person in the Republic of Ireland to receive the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine at St. James's Hospital, Dublin on 29 December 2020,[17][42] and received the second dose three weeks later on Tuesday 19 January 2021.[43]
On St Stephen's Day, the first shipment of 10,000 Pfizer–BioNTech vaccines arrived in the country.[44][45]
Maura Byrne, a 95-year-old woman, became the first nursing home resident in the Republic of Ireland to receive the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine on 5 January 2021,[46] while Dr Eavan Muldoon, an infectious diseases consultant, became the first healthcare worker in the Mater University Hospital to receive the vaccine.[47] On the same day, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced that up to 135,000 people would be vaccinated nationwide by the end of February 2021.[48]
January 2021[edit]
Following the approval of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine by the European Medicines Agency on 6 January 2021, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar announced that the vaccine would allow 10,000 more people in Ireland to be vaccinated per week.[49]
The rollout of the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine in private and voluntary nursing homes began nationwide on 7 January, with 22 nursing homes of 3,000 residents and staff to be vaccinated.[50]
The first shipment of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the Republic of Ireland on 12 January.[51]
Around 1,800 healthcare workers received the Moderna vaccine at three mass vaccination centres that opened in Dublin, Galway and Portlaoise on 16 January.[19]
February 2021[edit]
The first shipment of 21,600 AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in the country on 6 February.[52]
On 24 February, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced that Ireland had ordered enough vaccines to vaccinate 10.3 million people with 18.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines ordered.[53]
March 2021[edit]
On 6 March, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced that Ireland had reached the milestone of half a million COVID-19 vaccines administered.[54]
On 10 March, Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that Ireland was to receive a further 46,500 doses of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine before the end of March.[55]
On 22 March, it was announced that President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina Higgins received their first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine on 19 March.[56]
April 2021[edit]
On 8 April, the CEO of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Paul Reid announced that Ireland had reached the milestone of one million COVID-19 vaccines administered.[57]
On 15 April, over 26,000 people registered for a COVID-19 vaccination after the online portal for 69-year-olds went live.[58]
On 25 April, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced that Ireland had reached the milestone of one million first doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered.[59]
May 2021[edit]
On 9 May, Taoiseach Micheál Martin received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Cork City Hall and urged people to get vaccinated to protect themselves, while a record 52,278 doses were administered on Friday 7 May.[60]
On 17 May, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) confirmed that people in their 40s would be given a choice to accept the Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine or opt to wait for another vaccine.[61]
June 2021[edit]
On 2 June, NIAC advised that the gap between two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine could be reduced from 12 weeks to 8 weeks.[62]
On 5 June, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly received his first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in Greystones, County Wicklow.[63]
July 2021[edit]
On 2 July, following recommendations from NIAC, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced an expansion of the vaccination rollout programme to younger people with 750 pharmacies to begin administering the Janssen vaccine to people in the 18 to 34 age group who opted in for earlier vaccination from 5 July, while vaccination centres would begin administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to the group from 12 July.[64] On 5 July, over 500 pharmacies around the country began administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to people aged 18 to 34 who opted-in to receive it.[65]
On 27 July, after the COVID-19 vaccine registration portal opened to people aged 16 and 17 for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, the Government agreed to extend the vaccination programme to those aged 12 to 15 following recommendations from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee.[66] On the evening of 11 August, the COVID-19 vaccine registration portal opened to people aged 12 to 15 for the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.[67] On 12 August, the Chief Executive of the HSE Paul Reid said the vaccination programme was in "the final leg" after more than 50,000 people aged 12 to 15 registered to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, with 90% of adults partially vaccinated and 80% fully vaccinated.[68]
August 2021[edit]
On 3 August, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced that a deal had been completed to secure 700,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines from Romania.[69]
On 18 August, Ireland received its largest ever weekly shipment of COVID-19 vaccines, with over 540,000 doses delivered to the HSE, including the first batch of unwanted vaccines from the Romanian Government.[70]
September 2021[edit]
On 1 September, under changes to the COVID-19 vaccination programme, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee recommended that pregnant women could be offered an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine at any stage of pregnancy and that immunocompromised individuals aged 12 and older could receive a third additional vaccine dose.[71]
On 8 September, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced an update to Ireland's COVID-19 vaccination programme, with residents aged 65 years and older living in long term residential care facilities and people aged 80 years and older living in the community to receive a booster dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.[72] Two days later on 10 September, latest figures showed that 90% of adults in Ireland were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while the seven-millionth dose was administered.[73] This is one of the highest levels of vaccination in the European Union.[74]
November 2021[edit]
On 25 November, the HSE began preliminary planning for offering COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 5 to 11.[75] after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its approval.[76]
Vaccine rollout and distribution[edit]
Vaccine priority groups[edit]
The COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy currently includes 9 priority groups for the vaccine rollout in Ireland.[85]
On 23 February, following the publication of the Government's new revised Living with COVID-19 plan called "The Path Ahead", Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced an update to the COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy with people aged between 16 and 69 who are at very high risk of developing severe COVID-19 moved up the priority list, after the National Public Health Emergency Team endorsed recommendations by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee.[86][87]
On 30 March, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced an update to the COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy with priority groups being changed to an age-based system after vulnerable people with underlying conditions were vaccinated.[88][89]
"People who have an underlying condition that puts them at high risk of severe disease and death" is defined as:[91]
Organisations involved[edit]
A High-Level Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccination was established on 11 November 2020 to oversee the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines in the country once they were approved by the statutory authorities,[92] and to support the Department of Health and Health Service Executive (HSE) to deliver a COVID-19 immunisation programme that meets best practice and provides good governance.[93] The first full meeting of the task force took place on 23 November 2020 and was chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith.[94]
Members of the High-Level Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccination are made up of senior representatives from the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive, the Health Products Regulatory Authority, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, the Office of Government Procurement, IDA Ireland, the Dublin Airport Authority, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of the Taoiseach.[95][96][97]
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (an independent body outside of the HSE) provides expert, evidence-based and impartial guidance about the COVID-19 vaccines to the Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Health.[98][99]