Oxford coronavirus vaccine rollout begins in Northern Ireland

PA

Eileen Lynch, 94, gave the thumbs up after becoming one of the first people in Northern Ireland to receive the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

It was delivered at a GP surgery on the Falls Road in West Belfast on Monday afternoon.

Up to 11,000 people aged over 80 are set to receive the jab this week.

HEALTH Coronavirus
HEALTH Coronavirus

A batch of 50,000 doses has been allocated.

Those aged over 80 will be prioritised initially.

The country has moved to accelerate delivery of the inoculation as the pace of the pandemic has picked up.

The new and more infectious variant of Covid-19 has been detected in Northern Ireland.

The number of coronavirus infections has increased rapidly.

John Grey receives the first of two doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Falls Surgery in Belfast
John Grey receives the first of two doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Falls Surgery in Belfast

Chief medical officers across the UK have decided to delay delivery of the second shot of vaccines.

The BMA’s Northern Ireland chairman Dr Tom Black said: “A delayed Pfizer second dose is a mistake. Everybody knows.”

The intention of officials is that the maximum number of people receive their first jab, with its partial protection, as quickly as possible to help stem the tide of cases which threatens to overwhelm the health service.

Northern Ireland is in the second week of a six-week lockdown in which non-essential retail is closed.

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