EVERYONE aged 70 or over in Ireland should have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by mid-May, according to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.
He said that despite disruptions to the rollout and changing delivery schedules, it should still be possible to hit vaccination targets set last month, such as administering jabs to the entire population by September.
"The schedule I have would suggest that the group [over 70s] will have finished their second doses by mid-May," Donnelly said.
"But as always, these things are dependent on the supplies arriving.
"If we get the supplies that are forecast, and we know these things go up and down, it would be around mid-May the second dose is complete."
Vaccination of the over 85s group will begin next week, with more than 20,000 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be distributed to GPs from Monday.
This figure will rise to 50,000 the following week.
"The plan is to increase that again the week after that," Donnelly said.
The AstraZeneca vaccine will not be administered to anyone over 70 however, despite yesterday being deemed 'safe' for all age groups by the World Health Organization.
As of last week, over 270,000 vaccines had been administered in Ireland.
Concerns have been raised about Ireland's vaccination timeline, outlined by Mr Donnelly, with Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane criticising the lack of urgency shown by the Government.
"I accept that there are supply issues, but the middle of May, for all of the over 70s to be inoculated, it's a long time for those most at risk to be waiting," he said.
"And I think that will cause concern for many older people."
