More than 50,000 children aged 12-15 have already registered for a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the HSE.
From Thursday morning, parents and guardians have been able to register children in that age group for a Pfizer or Moderna jab.
Vaccination centres will open to children aged 12 to 15 this weekend.
#COVIDVaccine registration is open for all children aged 12-15.
To register your child for a vaccine, you’ll need:
📱your mobile phone number
✉️your email address
👤your child’s PPS number
📍your child’s Eircode
Register: https://t.co/oph1S4hkph#ForUsAll pic.twitter.com/PyympQlydG— HSE Ireland (@HSELive) August 12, 2021
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Consent is required in advance or on the day of vaccination for a child to receive the jab.
It comes as the HSE projects that 80 per cent of the State’s adult population will be fully vaccinated by this weekend.
Mr Reid said: “I strongly urge everyone to stick with the public health measures and come forward for a vaccination.”
To register for the vaccine, parents need the child’s PPS number, an Eircode, a mobile phone number and an email address.
Children without a PPS number can be registered over the phone.
The HSE estimates there are around 280,000 children aged 12-15 in Ireland.
Tomorrow is another key milestone in the vaccination programme. Registration for 12-15 ages commences & we're planning to administer some vaccines,for those registered in this age group, this coming weekend. This will provide further protection for the return to school. @HSELive
— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) August 11, 2021
“We will be offering appointments very quickly to these people,” Mr Reid said.
He could not provide a figure for the number of children the HSE expects to vaccinate over the weekend, but said he was “pleasantly surprised” by the volume of registrations so far.
The latest HSE figures show 66 per cent of teenagers aged 16 and 17 have been registered for a jab. Vaccination opened for that age group on July 27th and as things stand, 61 per cent are partially vaccinated and 7 per cent have had both jabs.
Dr Lucy Jessop, director of public health at the HSE’s National Immunisation Office, said that was an “extremely high uptake for those younger people”.
For older populations, nearly 100 per cent have registered for a Covid-19 vaccine.
According to the latest data, 45 per cent of 18- to 29-year-olds are fully vaccinated – with 78 per cent partially vaccinated.
Meanwhile 98 per cent of people aged 80 and over are fully vaccinated in the Republic.
Dr Jessop said the vaccine programme has been a “challenge”, but “it has been extremely successful”.
In a lengthy statement published on Wednesday evening, deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn set out the success of Ireland’s vaccination programme as he called on anyone not already vaccinated to receive the jab.
He said: “Vaccines work. They are about 80% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 disease and they provide approximately 95% protection against hospitalisation – and this protection against severe disease holds up even in the context of the Delta variant.”
