Up to 10,000 to receive booster Covid-19 vaccines in pharmacies this week

Up to 10,000 people are expected to have received a booster vaccine for Covid-19 in their local pharmacy by the end of this week, as part of the latest expansion of the booster vaccine programme.

The administration of boosters in pharmacies for eligible cohorts began this week, according to the Health Service Executive (HSE). Boosters are also being provided in mass vaccination centres and GP surgeries.

The HSE says it hopes pharmacies will administer 30,000 to 40,000 boosters per week at peak operation. For healthcare workers and other groups, access to a pharmacy may be more convenient than a vaccination centre, a spokesman said.

So far, 132,200 booster doses have been given to over-80s; 130,500 to 70-79-year-olds; 23,800 to 60-69-year-olds; 24,000 to over-65s in long-term residential facilities, and 100,400 to healthcare workers.

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The booster campaign is being ramped up in response to evidence of declining vaccine effectiveness against infection, and to help curb transmission of the virus in the current Covid-19 wave.