Almost 10,000 care home residents receive vaccine
By Marie-Louise Connolly
BBC News NI Health Correspondent
- Published
Almost 10,000 care home residents in Northern Ireland have received the first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.
More than 46,000 first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have now been administered, according to the Department of Health.
A total of 25,623 health and social care staff have received the vaccine - more than a third of the workforce.
This is in addition to the recent roll-out of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
An update from the Department of Health, shows 9,644 care home residents and 11,260 care home staff have received their first Pfizer BioNTech jab.
Vaccination teams have visited 439 out of the 483 care homes in Northern Ireland.
The department said this accounted for "every home that doesn't currently have a Covid-19 outbreak" and it expected "the remaining care homes to be vaccinated by mid-January".
Breakdown of vaccinations by health trust area
- Belfast Trust: 2,273 care home residents; 2,804 care home staff; 81 care homes. 7,818 HSC staff.
- Northern Trust: 1,912 residents; 2,496 care home staff; 101 care homes; 3,715 HSC staff.
- South Eastern Trust: 2,579 residents; 3,139 care home staff; 109 care homes; 6,594 HSC staff.
- Southern Trust: 1,687 residents; 1,606 care home staff; 65 care homes; 3,514 HSC staff.
- Western Trust: 1,288 residents; 1,301 care home staff; 58 care homes; 3,982 HSC staff.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health has defended its plans to change the length of time between delivering the first and second vaccine doses.
It said that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended a strategy of prioritising first doses of vaccines to as many people as possible.
"We know that after the first dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine within two to three weeks there is a very high level of immunity," a spokesperson from the department said.
"After 21 days irrespective of which vaccine you have, that immunity does not drop off."
On Tuesday, BBC News NI asked the department to clarify its vaccination schedule, something which has been outlined in Scotland and England.
The department is yet to respond.
'Working tirelessly'
"Our vaccination programme has achieved a great deal in a very short space of time," a department spokesperson said.
"We are very grateful to the many colleagues across our trusts and GP practices who are working tirelessly to make sure that we get the vaccine to patients and healthcare staff."
The spokesperson added the positive results did "not mean that we can drop our guard".
They also urged the public to continue to follow public health advice around social distancing and face coverings.
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