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Ireland overtakes the UK in fully vaccinating its adult population against Covid-19

Published 18:08 31 Jul 2021 BST

Updated 19:47 31 Jul 2021 BST

Stephen Porzio
Ireland overtakes the UK in fully vaccinating its adult population against Covid-19

Homenews

Ireland's vaccine rollout is continuing "at great pace".

Ireland now has a higher percentage of its adult population fully vaccinated against Covid-19 than the UK. On Tuesday, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said Ireland was set to overtake the UK in the "next week or so" in regards to fully vaccinating its adult population. On Saturday afternoon, Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed Ireland had "edged ahead of our nearest neighbours". According to the Taoiseach, Ireland has vaccinated 72.4% of its adult population, compared to the UK's 72.1%. Notable when comparing figures is that the intervals between the administering of two-shot vaccines are different across the jurisdictions. Meanwhile, the UK has not administered any of the one-shot Janssen vaccine to its population yet, whereas in Ireland it has been offered to those aged 18-34 through pharmacies. The UK’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout commenced nearly three weeks before Ireland in early December. Earlier in the week, the Irish Government approved advice that will see the country's Covid-19 vaccine programme extended to include 12-15 year-olds.

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Ireland overtakes the UK in fully vaccinating its adult population against Covid-19