The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to 12-to-15 year olds will continue this weekend.
The HSE confirmed to RTE News that the first vaccines were administered to this age cohort yesterday, after the opening of the registration portal earlier in the week.
Figures yesterday evening showed that more than 71,000 people within this age group have registered for a vaccine.
Consent is required by a parent or legal guardian to receive a vaccine, and children in this age group will receive either a Pfizer or a Moderna vaccine.
Health Service Executive CEO Paul Reid said that he witnessed many parents and children attending a vaccination centre in Carrick-on-Shannon yesterday.
“Children have sacrificed so much in this pandemic too & they have shown maturity beyond their years,” he wrote on Twitter this morning.
“Vaccinations are our way out of this awful period.”
Separately, the latest operations update from the HSE shows that there were 223 patients in hospital with Covid-19 at 8pm last night.
Both Beaumont Hospital and Sligo had the highest number of Covid patients, with 21 patients in each.
Yesterday, there were 43 patients in ICU.
The Department of Health also reported 1,978 new cases last night.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said that vaccines are now preventing “at least 10,000 cases and about 500 hospital admissions every week”.
He said that if “we didn’t have vaccination, our current 14-day incidence rate would be approximately 1,000 per 100,000.
“We would be seeing up to 50 people admitted to hospital for every 1,000 cases reported. Instead we are seeing about 20 people admitted for every 1,000 cases.
“All of this is positive and demonstrates the effectiveness of these vaccines.”