The Republic, with 4.9 million citizens, has only fully-vaccinated 300,000, while Northern Ireland, with a population of 1.8 million, has vaccinated almost 200k – a higher percentage per capita.
According to the HSE, as of the 9th of April 2021, Ireland has administered 309,922 second doses of covid vaccine.
By comparison, Northern Ireland, which has around 1.3 million adults, has fully vaccinated around 199,500 citizens.
Ireland’s long awaited vaccine rollout – and the European Union’s more broadly – continues to hit stumbling blocks, as GPs have been asked to suspend the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine to high-risk patients until further information from NIAC amid blood clotting concerns.
Covid-19: GPs advised not to administer AstraZeneca jab to very high-risk patients until committee reports back https://t.co/C8dvnRU9yX
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) April 11, 2021
EMA finds link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots https://t.co/iXg899ELPC
— breakingnews.ie (@breakingnewsie) April 7, 2021
EMA reviewing blood clot reports in four people who received Johnson & Johnson vaccine https://t.co/oPJfHWVa2j via @IrishTimesWorld
— Irish Times World (@IrishTimesWorld) April 9, 2021
This means that many in the vulnerable categories will not receive their first jab until the end of April.
https://twitter.com/Ben_Scallan/status/1381357475501330437
Additionally, AstraZeneca has cut this week’s deliveries to the EU by half, shipping only 1.3 million to the bloc as opposed to the 2.6 million the company had projected in mid-March.
https://twitter.com/fthealth/status/1380542149746438149
The EU, too, has consistently failed to meet its own vaccination targets – the bloc had a goal of vaccinating 80% of people over 80 by the end of March, which it missed by a substantial margin. To date, less than 60% of people over that age have received even one dose, according to the ECDC.
The European Commission's goal for the first quarter of 2021 — for 80 percent of people over 80 to be vaccinated against the coronavirus — has not been met.
With deliveries set to increase, the Commission promises things will soon improve. https://t.co/ZXERzuiNhH
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) April 6, 2021
As the rollout continues to stall, Dr. Siobhan O’Sullivan of NPHET recently said that “nobody is protected from covid-19 until everyone gets vaccinated.”
Nobody is protected from virus until everyone gets vaccinated, says NPHET doc https://t.co/FuGHmMLHaR
— The Irish Sun (@IrishSunOnline) January 26, 2021