Over 77,000 People Have Received Their First Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine

New vaccine statistics puts Ireland second in EU

77,303 people have been given the first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine to protect against COVID-19.

New data revealed by the HSE means that Ireland has the second highest vaccination rate in the EU, only behind Denmark.

There has been criticism over the rollout of the vaccine in recent days, with some calling it too slow.

However these new statistics will provide a relief for some, with many still adopting a 'wait-and-see' approach for how it will be rolled out all year.

🇪🇺 Total vaccine doses administered per 100 people:

🇩🇰 Denmark 2.23
🇮🇪 Ireland 1.57
🇮🇹 Italy 1.5
🇪🇸 Spain 1.45
🇩🇪 Germany 1.01
🇵🇱 Poland 0.98
🇷🇴 Romania 0.87
🇬🇷 Greece 0.68
🇨🇿 Czechia 0.66
🇧🇪 Belgium 0.6
🇫🇷 France 0.49
🇳🇱 Netherlands 0.27

More data: https://t.co/Sgszwaz2TZ pic.twitter.com/CqJOp7NvnB

— Edouard Mathieu (@redouad) January 14, 2021

The government has also unveiled it's latest plan for the rollout of the vaccine, which will see most of the population vaccinated by September.

It will also be dependent on other vaccines being approved by the European Medicines Agency.

That includes the Oxford AstraZeneca jab, with the EMA due to make a decision on that by January 29th.

The application for that vaccine has handed over to the Agency this week for approval.

Updated vaccination rollout schedule -including those aged 55 - 64.
14/Jan/2021 pic.twitter.com/9NrPb1rxpa

— Ossian Smyth TD (@smytho) January 14, 2021

It could also change if the amount of doses of vaccines becomes available, such as additional resources of the Pfizer BioNTech jab.

However the Oxford AstraZeneca jab is the one to watch, as 3.3million doses have been ordered by the government here.