The death of one further Covid-19 patient has been reported by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) this evening. This brings to 2,097 the total number of deaths in the pandemic.

Nphet also reported 215 confirmed cases of the virus, bringing the total number of cases to 74,682.

Of the new cases, 74 are in Dublin, 22 in Donegal, 15 in Kilkenny, 14 in Louth, 11 in Limerick with the remaining 79 cases are spread across 18 other counties.  Sixty per cent of cases are under 45 years of age and the median age is 37.

Hospital Report

On Tuesday afternoon, there were 210 Covid-19 patients in hospital, including 31 in ICU. There have been eight new hospitalisations over the past 24 hours.

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The 14-day national incidence of the disease now stands at 80.2 cases per 100,000 people. Donegal and Kilkenny are again the counties with the highest incidence, while Leitrim has the lowest.

Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: “Today the Government approved Nphet’s advice on prioritisation of Covid-19 vaccines. This is an important step in the development of the vaccine strategy, being finalised by the High Level taskforce for Covid-19 vaccination.

“While each of us awaits our opportunity to be vaccinated, it is important that we continue to protect each other in the meantime, particularly over Christmas and in the months ahead.

“Continue to follow public health advice; avoid crowded places, physically distance, wear face coverings, wash hands regularly and practice cough/sneeze etiquette.”

Ministers confirmed that those aged over 65 and in long-term care, frontline healthcare workers in direct patient contact and those aged over 70 will be the first to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

The Cabinet on Tuesday morning considered wider categories for inclusion in the vaccination programme and according to a list published this afternoon, these cohorts will be followed by other healthcare workers and then those aged 65 to 69 with medical conditions.

Healthcare workers who are not in direct patient contact, as well as the over 65s with medical conditions that put them at risk of severe disease, are among those prioritised next for vaccination, once more pressing categories are immunised.

Following this, “key workers” will be vaccinated, although this category will be further refined, according to the Government list.

It will include those “providing services essential to societal and economic activity”.

The next category will be those aged between 18 to 64 with medical conditions which put them at higher risk of disease, followed by residents of long term care facilities in this age cohort

Earlier on Tuesday the first person in the world to get the new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is a 90-year-old native of Enniskillen, while the first person in Northern Ireland to get the jab is a 28-year-old nurse.

As the rollout of the vaccine began across Northern Ireland and Britain on Tuesday morning the first administration of the vaccine happened in England where Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, was immunised.

Ms Keenan, a native of Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, said it was the “best early present” she could have received.

Not long after that first vaccination, at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Joanna Sloan, a nurse who will be in charge of the vaccination programme in Belfast, received the vaccine just after 8am.

Ms Sloan, a mother of a five-year-old daughter, said she felt emotional and proud to be part of history.