All acute staff at St Luke’s Hospital should have gotten their first vaccination by this Friday.
Up to half of all staff at the hospital for Carlow & Kilkenny had been told they would have to wait several more weeks for their first jab while the other half completed their vaccination course with the second shot.
KCLR understands that the Hospital has now received a batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine and all frontline staff who deal with Covid-19 patients will have had their first jab by the end of this week.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has recommended the use of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine in all adults – including over 65s.
Some countries, including Ireland, have decided not to give the jab to older people because there’s little data about its effectiveness.
Scientists advising the WHO now say it should be given to everyone over 18 with no upper age limit.
Dr Joachim Hombach from the WHO’s SAGE committee says the recommendation follows more data becoming available.