From Monday, people in Ireland will need to wait 28 days to receive the second vaccine dose.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly took to Twitter today to share the announcement that Ireland currently has the highest daily vaccine rate in all of the EU.
As Minister Donnelly states, the rates won’t always remain this high, but it does show the progress being made with the vaccinations in Ireland:
Thanks to our brilliant vaccination teams, for now we have the higest daily vaccination levels in the EU27. It won't always be like this, as member states get same per capita amounts of vaccine. But great we're moving quickly. 🙏👏👍 pic.twitter.com/DFR7amwlvi
— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) January 15, 2021
Meanwhile, it was been confirmed that from Monday, January 18, people will need to wait 28 days to receive the second dose of the vaccine, increased by seven days from previous schedule.
The Health Service Executive have stated the decision to increase the interval between vaccines is on advice from the World Health Organisation and the National Immunisation Advisory Committee.
The HSE’s statement (via RTE) said that “information about the vaccine and the programme is evolving, the WHO and NIAC recently provided updated advice, stating that the interval between the two doses has been increased from 21 days to 21-28 days.”
They also stated that “this new change will not have an impact on the protection it offers”, and that it “will enable us to maximise our resources and vaccinate more people as new supplies of the vaccine come into the country”.
READ NEXT: New data shows how well Dubliners have complied with ‘stay local’ rules during pandemic
