Covid-19: Ireland to buy one million vaccine doses

The Irish government has announced it is to purchase one million Covid-19 vaccine doses from Romania.

The agreement in principle to purchase the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, followed talks between Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

Mr Martin said the development was "very good news for Ireland".

People aged 18 to 34 can register to get a specific Covid-19 vaccine in the Republic of Ireland from next week.

Earlier, Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said this group can "opt-in" for Janssen or AstraZeneca for earlier vaccination.

Mr Martin said Romania will supply the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines "in a show of solidarity" with Ireland and the Irish people,

"We have been seeking additional vaccines for the last while, engaging with my counterparts across Europe, and I had a good discussion this morning with the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, and he was very helpful," Mr Martin said.

He added that the Romanian President was "anxious to help, given the Delta variant, given the fact that we're in close proximity to the United Kingdom, and the impact on Northern Ireland and the fact that we have such a high uptake of vaccines in Ireland that we need additional supplies".

Mr Martin said the logistics of the agreement and when the one million doses will arrive in Ireland "have to be worked out".

From Monday, about 750 pharmacies in the Republic will be able to administer the Janssen vaccine.

Speaking to RTÉ, Mr Donnelly said the system would run in parallel with an online portal registration.

From Monday 12 July, the 18 to 34 age group will be able to register online for an earlier dose of the AstraZeneca or Janssen vaccine.

Mr Donnelly said it will be a "huge benefit for them and society in the face of this Delta surge".

He said people who opted in for Janssen or AstraZeneca could receive their jab one and two months earlier than expected.

From 9 July, the online vaccine portal for the 30-34 age group opens.

Mr Donnelly also announced there would be an acceleration of the process for people in the 60 to 69 age group to receive their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

"So in the next 10 or 11 days, everyone who has had the first dose will have had their second dose," he said.

He said it followed a change of advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of Health, about shortening the period between the jabs.

The health minister was speaking after receiving a revised vaccine plan from the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Irish health service.

Under the proposed changes, 16 to 49-year-olds should preferably be offered an mRNA vaccine - Pfizer or Moderna.

As of 29 June, the most recent data available, 4,109,474 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland, including 2,443,921 people who have received their first dose, and 1,665,553 people who have received their second dose.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), the advisory body to the government on public health, said it could take until September to bring an increase in cases across different age groups under control.

In Northern Ireland, young people have been encouraged to get vaccinated to combat a surge in case numbers linked to the Delta variant.