Nearly 85,000 people have received their two Covid-19 vaccine doses, latest figures show

The Covid-19 vaccines available require a two-dose schedule.

NEARLY 85,000 PEOPLE have received their two vaccine doses against Covid-19, with more than 235,000 vaccine doses administered in total up to last Saturday. 

Each of the three vaccines currently being administered in Ireland – Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca – require two doses spaced at least a few weeks apart.

As of 6 February, 236,996 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Ireland.

This accounts for: 

• 152,652 people who have received their first dose
• 84,344 people who have received their second dose

The vast majority of these were from the Pfizer jab, with under 2,000 Moderna doses administered, according to the Covid-19 Data Hub.

The AstraZeneca vaccine has only been administered in the last few days after arriving into the country at the weekend. 

Vaccination data will now be updated daily, the Department of Health said. 

The HSE has said that a further 29,000 vaccines will be administered in 78 long-term residential care settings, to frontline healthcare workers and to GPs this week. 

Frontline disability service workers will also begin receiving the vaccine from this week. 

Healthcare workers with direct patient contact as well as residents at long-term residential care facilities over the age of 65 have been first to receive the vaccines. 

Independent MEP Mick Wallace said today that delays to the Covid-19 vaccine rollout plan in Ireland and other countries is a “huge concern” and could cost lives.

Supply issues and the Irish government’s decision that over-70s should not receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, and instead be given the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, looks set to delay the initial deadline to vaccinate this age group here.

Concerns have also been raised in recent weeks about the number of vaccines AstraZeneca can produce for Europe.

When asked by TheJournal.ie today about these issues, Wallace said there “seem to be serious challenges around AstraZeneca, and I think it does represent a big problem given that they were promising to produce a huge quantity (of the vaccine) and countries right across Europe were banking on them”.