OVER 99% of people offered a coronavirus vaccine in Ireland have gladly taken it, according to HSE statistics.
As of January 27, nearly 150,000 first doses of the vaccine have been offered to people in Ireland, and a whopping 99.6% of people chose to accept it.
This is despite a recent poll suggesting that 25% of Irish people said they wouldn't be taking the vaccine when it's offered to them.
"Participation in vaccination programmes in Ireland is not mandatory. Should a person change their mind, vaccination can be made available to them," the HSE said in a statement.
Frontline healthcare workers and care homes residents aged 65 and over have been prioritised in the country's vaccination rollout, so it's not particularly surprising that the vast majority have accepted their jabs, particularly as they're both considered 'high-risk' categories.
According to a study carried out by Ipsos MRBI for the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), the age group most likely to accept the vaccine were the over-65s.
The majority of those who said they wouldn't be taking the vaccine are in the 25-34-year-old category.
Other than those working in frontline healthcare, no one in this category in Ireland should have been offered a vaccine yet.
Time will tell whether they stick to their guns or not, but statistics suggest, at the moment, that vaccination scepticism has been over-hyped.
The current allocation of vaccines in Ireland has been determined by the Provisional Vaccine Allocation Groups list which was published by the Government in early December.
The HSE stressed that the list was "critical given the limited supply of vaccines."
