Coronavirus: 340 more cases in the State as North offers over 18s ‘walk in’ vaccine

Almost 4m vaccine doses administered in Republic, while North breaks 2m mark

Vaccination centres across Northern Ireland ‘are now offering Pfizer first doses to everyone aged 18 and over’, the North’s health minister Robin Swann said. Photograph: Bloomberg
Vaccination centres across Northern Ireland ‘are now offering Pfizer first doses to everyone aged 18 and over’, the North’s health minister Robin Swann said. Photograph: Bloomberg

An additional 340 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the State, the Department of Health said on Sunday.

Some 15 people are in ICU - an increase of two on the previous day, according to the figures, which are as of midnight on Saturday. Some 47 people are in hospital with the coronavirus.

More than 40 per cent of adults in the State have been fully-vaccinated, and the number of vaccine doses administered was set to reach the 4 million mark on Sunday evening, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

In Northern Ireland, eight in ten adults have received at least one Covid-19 jab as the number of vaccines administered breaks through the 2 million mark.

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Six in ten in the adult population have been fully vaccinated with both doses.

The figures were revealed as the North’s first walk-in vaccinations for over-18s commenced — on a first come, first served basis — at Belfast’s SSE Arena.

Similar walk-in facilities are planned for other parts of the region.

Health minister Robin Swann praised the “good sense” of people coming forward “in very large numbers to get protected from the virus” but warned of the danger posed by the Delta variant.

“The Covid-19 threat is still very much with us, as evidenced by the spread of the Delta variant in recent weeks,” he said.

“Our vaccination centres across Northern Ireland are now offering Pfizer first doses to everyone aged 18 and over.

“Localised take-up initiatives will also be continuing, including pop-up, mobile and walk-in vaccination facilities.”

Mr Swann urged anyone “holding back” from getting a jab to “do it now.”

There have been no new reported deaths linked to Covid 19 in the North but 261 new positive cases identified in the 24 hours up to Sunday afternoon. Some 16 people with Covid-19 are in hospital in the North with the virus.