IRELAND will receive 300,000 fewer doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine than had been expected.
It was hoped that 600,000 doses of the vaccine would be delivered to Ireland by the end of March.
However, the Department of Health has been told that this will now be around 300,000 due to a shortfall of deliveries to the EU.
The Irish government had targeted the vaccination of 700,000 people by the end of March, but that was based on the 600,000 figure.
Brian MacCraith, head of the vaccine taskforce, said: “We are sticking to the principle of administering the vaccines as soon as they arrive.”
Asked what vaccine will be given to the over-70s if the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is not recommended for over-65s, he said they will be given the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines instead.
The committee was told that over-70s will be contacted by their GPs when their vaccine is ready.
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