Two-thirds of the Republic's total population are fully vaccinated, according to the latest figures.
With 6.2 million doses of the Covid vaccine administered up to August 10th, just under 90 per cent of adults and 88 per cent of people aged over 16 have received at least one dose.
Chair of the vaccine taskforce, Prof Brian MacCraith, shared the latest available data which shows that 78 per cent of adults and 76 per cent of people over 16 are now fully vaccinated.
VACCINATION UPDATE
~6.2m vaccine doses administered to date
>89% of adults have received at least 1 dose
>78% of adults fully vaccinated (~60% of total population)#ForUsAll
@HSELive pic.twitter.com/lfqfpOkZT7— Brian MacCraith (@muirtheimhne) August 11, 2021
Prof MacCraith hailed the “amazing response” of Irish people while sharing statistics from Our World in Data which shows the State's vaccination rollout ahead of countries such as France, Italy, Germany and the US.
He added that it is concerning to see the vaccination status of countries such as Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and Tanzania where less than 2 per cent of the population has receive a vaccine dose.
The World Health Organisation has appealed to wealthier countries not to begin offering booster jabs until more of the global population has been vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the Department of Health has sought legal advice on mixing Covid-19 vaccines made by different manufacturers.
According to The Irish Times, legal input has been sought from the Attorney General’s office and other agencies due to the impact of going “off label” and mixing vaccines in a way that was not included in clinical trials.
The legal advice will then be passed to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly ahead of a final decision.
Proponents of vaccine mixing argue that it could offer more potent immune system responses.
More research is expected from several trials and studies of real-life data from countries where booster shots have been given.
Preliminary results from studies in Spain, Germany and the UK have raised no safety concerns, but more data is being awaited.
