The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to protect against Covid-19 will be available in Northern Ireland from next Monday, the deputy chair of the British Medical Association's GP committee in the North has said.
Dr Frances O’Hagan said the vaccine will soon be made available to GP practices in the region, who will “move heaven and earth” to ensure vaccinations begin early next week.
“We got word yesterday that the new vaccine will be available to practices in Northern Ireland from the beginning of next week so we are moving all our work around,” Dr O’Hagan told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
“We're going to move heaven and earth to make sure that we're available to handle the vaccine in our practices and get it into the arms of our patients early next week.
“Some will get our vaccine on Monday and we will have those vaccines in our over 80s by the end of next week. It is really, really important, given our numbers, that we get our elderly and patients at risk vaccinated as soon as possible.”
Hospital admissions
Dr O’Hagan said the number of Covid-19 cases being reported in Northern Ireland at present are a reflection of what happened two to three weeks ago.
On Wednesday, 2,143 new cases of the virus were reported in the region, while a further six deaths were also confirmed.
“The numbers in recent days will translate into hospitalisations in the next two to three weeks. What we did over Christmas will not turn into positive cases for another few days, but what we do tonight and new year will not turn into positive cases for another two weeks and into hospital admissions a further two weeks beyond that,” Dr O’Hagan said.
“We as a country, both north and south, need to be really, really careful what we do tonight to celebrate new year because that is a huge opportunity for the virus to spread. If we have a huge house party we are at risk of making this so much worse.
“We really need to be very careful - not to socialise, not to have house parties, not to have parties at home where we can give this virus the opportunity to spread among our loved ones.”
Schools in Northern Ireland will deliver remote learning in the first week of the new term after a return to classrooms was delayed due to spiralling infection rates.
On Wednesday, the Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use in the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine – enough to vaccinate 50 million people.
