{"id":19201,"date":"2021-01-14T07:34:16","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T11:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=19201"},"modified":"2021-01-16T11:36:09","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T15:36:09","slug":"number-of-covid-19-vaccines-administered-in-the-north-exceeds-100000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=19201","title":{"rendered":"Number Of Covid-19 Vaccines Administered In The North Exceeds 100,000"},"content":{"rendered":"

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John Grey (84) receives the first of two doses of the Oxford\/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, administered by Dr Michael McKenna, at Falls Surgery on the Falls Road, Belfast (PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>More than 100,000 coronavirus vaccinations have been administered in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann said the program is being stepped up but is dependent on the availability of supplies of the vaccines.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy close of play yesterday [Tuesday], 109,259 doses had been administered, with 91,419 people having received their first dose,\u201d he told an Executive press conference in Belfast.<\/p>\n

\u201c458 out of 483 (95 per cent) of our care homes have received their first dose, and 67 per cent their second.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith our GP-led vaccinations barely off the starting blocks, already close to 20 per cent of our over-80s have received a jab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program will be scaled up rapidly as supplies allow, and I have to emphasize again that availability of supplies is the key limiting factor at present, not locations or staffing or operating hours. Supplies are limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot vaccinate everyone right now, much as we would like to, but we will get there, steadily and systematically.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe supplies will keep coming in batches and we will keep prioritizing in line with the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunization guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mr Swann said lockdown in Northern Ireland is producing results, with the number of cases dropping, but added \u201cthe challenge is to keep it there\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said restrictions will be kept under review by the Executive, and ministers \u201cmay well have some further challenging decisions to make by early February\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have to avoid easing restrictions too early or too widely, the situation in our hospitals is too precious for that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Chief scientific adviser Prof Ian Young said the average number of new cases of coronavirus per day in the region had risen to more than 2,000 a day.<\/p>\n

He said that while the number of cases is falling, they remain at a \u201cvery high level\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven now as we see the numbers falling, getting lower, they remain at a higher level than at any time in wave one or wave two of this epidemic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, what everyone is doing is working to reduce cases, but we still have a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

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