Some 4,000 people have had their first vaccine to protect against Covid-19 in the Republic over the last week.
Vaccine clinics are now set to be extended nationwide in the coming days, after 2,000 health workers were vaccinated in the south of the country over the last three days.
All seven HSE hospital groups will receive vaccine shipments this week, with the Government saying it aims to supply 50,000 frontline healthcare workers with both doses of Pfizer/BioNTech's two-shot vaccine by the middle of February.
Staff in Cork worked through the bank holiday and the weekend to vaccinate their colleagues after three hospitals received 2,000 doses to split between the Mercy, and the South Infirmary and Cork University Hospital (CUH).
It brings the total number in Cork who have received their first dose to 2,500, after an initial 500 doses issued to CUH were used before New Year's Day.
East and west
In Dublin, 490 patients and staff were vaccinated at Beaumont Hospital over the three days up to New Year's Eve.
The hospital’s vaccine clinic will begin work again this afternoon as 500 more doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are set to be delivered.
In the west of Ireland, 540 people have received the vaccine at University Hospital Galway.
The first vaccines will also roll out to nursing home residents from Monday.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he intends for all residents of the Republic’s 580 nursing homes to have received their first vaccine dose by the end of January.
Next steps
The Irish Times reports that about 20,000 further vaccine doses will be administered this week, including 17,000 to staff and residents of 25 nursing homes and 3,000 to staff in 17 hospitals.
A further shipment of 41,000 vaccine doses is due to arrive on Monday or Tuesday. Of these, 25,000 doses will be administered immediately with the rest held back for use as second doses, which are given three weeks after the first.
It comes as the National Immunisation Advisory Committee is currently examining a proposal to maximise the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine roll-out by delaying its second dose. This has been done in the UK, but experts are divided on the approach.
Regulatory officials are also examining a proposal to allow vaccinators to draw six doses from a vial of the vaccine, instead of the recommended five. This would increase capacity by up to 20 per cent.
