Pharmacists to start giving Covid vaccines this week

Pharmacists will begin administering Covid-19 vaccines from this week.

People over the age of 50 who haven’t yet received a Covid-19 vaccine can now get one in their local pharmacy.

About 1,300 pharmacists across Ireland will begin administering jabs this week, the majority of which will be the single-dose Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine.

People do not need to register online for the service but will need to book a vaccine appointment with a participating pharmacist, a list of which can be found on the HSE’s website.

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Darragh O'Loughlin, chief executive of the Irish Pharmacy Union, said pharmacists have been "ready and waiting" to begin administering Covid-19 vaccines to the public for the last few months and there would be two parts to the rollout at pharmacies.

“The first is that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be delivered to 700 or 800 pharmacies in the coming days and those will be available for anyone over the age of 50 who hasn’t already been vaccinated, whether or not they registered on the HSE portal,” he told Newstalk.

"In a couple of weeks, a number of pharmacies, mostly those that are not too close to vaccination centres, will have the Pfizer vaccine and they'll be using them just the same as the vaccination centres and GPs as part of the national vaccination programme."

A further 315 Covid-19 cases were reported in the State on Sunday. There were 62 people in hospital with the disease, including 22 in intensive care units.

Meanwhile, the Government is likely to get rid of self-quarantine requirements for travellers arriving here from Britain who have received two shots of a Covid-19 vaccine, but toughen requirements for those travelling from Britain who are not vaccinated.

The Cabinet is likely to discuss the changes and receive an update on the Covid-19 situation when it meets on Tuesday.

Under consideration are new measures to prevent the spread of the more contagious Delta Covid-19 variant, which was first identified in India and is now the dominant strain in Britain.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has confirmed there will be "some changes" to the quarantine and travel rules to reflect the danger posed by the Delta variant.