NPHET’s predicting a 70 % drop in Covid-19 hospital admissions by mid-March if the country continues on its current path.
It says the number could drop to 250 in less than a month; 813 are currently receiving hospital treatment, 14 at St Luke’s General and 40 at University Hospital Waterford.
NPHET says daily cases numbers could also fall to 200 by March 1st.
A further 744 new cases and 33 deaths were reported yesterday, 13 in Carlow and eight in Kilkenny.
Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Professor of Medicine at UCD, Dr. Jack Lambert, says reopening society will have an impact.
Vaccine
A former head of the HSE says it will be an ‘absolute game-changer’ if the Johnson and Johnson Covid-19 vaccine gets approved next month.
The company has submitted its injection for approval with the European Medicines Agency.
It’s a single-dose vaccine that doesn’t have to be stored at extra-low temperatures, like the Pfizer and Moderna jabs.
Tony O’Brien is welcoming yesterday’s news that it’s been lodged with the EMA.
Meanwhile, he rollout of Covid-19 vaccines to the over 85s by GPs is starting locally today.
Three practices in Kilkenny city will be administering the first jabs to their older patients from this morning.
Other smaller practices in the rest of the county and in Carlow will be getting their first batches of vaccine from next week.
Ayrfield Medical Centre is one of the practices getting started today and they’ll be working in their car-park where they’ve also set up a clinic and a drive through testing centre.
Dr Seathrún Ó Casadaigh says it’s a very exciting morning, as he’s been telling Sue Nunn on The Way It Is – listen back to that here:
It’s as Carlow’s mass vaccination centre will now be in the local IT.
The HSE has confirmed to KCLR that it’ll be located at The Barrow Centre, which is where the medical centre and sports hall is at IT Carlow.
The Government had announced on Monday that the Seven Oaks Hotel would be the venue in the county where the general public could get their Covid-19 jabs.
But it emerged on KCLR yesterday that no deal had been done with the hotel and that the HSE were still actively looking at other sites.
The HSE South East says the centre will be operational by early April.
In the UK
Britain’s Foreign Minister is calling for ceasefires around the world to allow for the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.
Dominic Raab will urge members of the UN Security Council to temporarily pause fighting to make sure vulnerable populations can access injections.
He’s expected to warn that new variants of Covid-19 could otherwise spread in areas without vaccination campaigns.
