Vaccine plan for children
A plan to offer Covid-19 vaccinations to children aged 5-11 will be published within days, the Taoiseach has said.
On Wednesday, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) recommended to Government that jabs should be offered to around 480,000 primary school children.
The State’s vaccine advisory body signed off on their use, with the roll-out expected to take place from next month.
The dose for this age group will be lower than those given to adults.
Booster jab no-shows
The Taoiseach told the Dáil on Tuesday that 215,000 appointments for Covid-19 booster shots were missed in the last two weeks.
He said that in the week beginning November 22nd, 208,000 appointments were made, but about 80,000 people turned up to receive their booster shot.
Last week 180,000 appointments were made, but 93,000 people turned up.
Catherine Murphy, co-leader of the Social Democrats, said this could also be due to faults within the HSE’s vaccine booking system.
Mr Martin said the HSE have acknowledged that they do need to improve their operating systems.
Schools to reopen
Schools all over the country should open as normal on Thursday following two days of closures due to Storm Barra, the Department of Education has advised.
Schools and educational institutions in counties that were under red or orange weather warnings had been advised to remain shut on Wednesday.
Schools in Dublin, Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Limerick, Clare, Galway, Mayo and Wexford were affected by the advice.
The decision to close schools was taken due to the potential for storm damage to school buildings. Some universities in affected counties opened on Wednesday anyway due to the orange warnings coming to an end.
