Coronavirus vaccine: Belfast care home residents receive Covid-19 jab
- Published
Staff and residents at Bradley Manor have welcomed the vaccines
Over 300 Covid-19 vaccinations have been carried out at Belfast care homes since Tuesday.
Residents at Palmerston residential home, Bradley Manor and Belmont Care Home have received the jab.
Health Minister Robin Swann has confirmed that about 310 staff and residents have been vaccinated.
Some of those administering the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine were only given it on Tuesday.
Dr Seamus O'Brien, who normally works in clinical research and is managing today's roll out of the vaccine, said he was "excited and delighted" to be part of it.
It comes as the Department of Health recorded another 12 Covid-19 related deaths in Northern Ireland.
It brings the total number of deaths to 1,085. A further 483 people have also tested positive for the virus.
A further five deaths linked to Covid-19 were reported in the Republic of Ireland on Wednesday, bringing the country's total to 2,102.
There have been 74,900 confirmed cases of the virus in the country after another 227 cases were documented.
Hospital outbreak
Meanwhile a coronavirus outbreak at Antrim Area Hospital was confirmed on Wednesday.
Fifteen patients and five members of staff in the Cardiology Ward and Coronary Care Unit have been affected by the outbreak.
The Northern Trust says control measures are in place.
In a statement, the trust said: "This is something the trust has had to become accustomed to but it does add to the complexity of providing acute services during a pandemic and particularly during sustained surges."
The first Covid-19 vaccination in Northern Ireland was administered on Tuesday to Sister Joanna Sloan, who will manage the Belfast Trust's vaccination centre.
The roll out involves 70 hospital hubs across the UK which are gearing up to provide the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is one of a number that have been developed so far, with Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna seeking approval for their vaccines.
Regulators have advised that anyone with a history of significant allergic reactions should not have the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.
Increased cases
A one-week relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in November resulted in increased cases, Northern Ireland's Chief Scientific Adviser Prof Ian Young said at a Stormont briefing on Wednesday.
He said the number of new cases since that seven day period had risen by 25%.
"That shows, if anyone was in any doubt, the impact of increased interactions between people in a wide variety of settings," he said.
Prof Young also said the R number, the reproduction rate for the virus, is "roughly one at the moment".
Health Minister Robin Swann hailed the vaccination rollout as a "game changer".
Once delivered, it can be kept for up to five days in a fridge.
Stocks of the vaccine were transported to Northern Ireland via the Republic of Ireland, having arrived into Dublin port from Holyhead.
They are being kept at an undisclosed central storage facility operated by a private company.
The UK will be the first country in the world to start using the Pfizer vaccine after regulators approved its use last week. About 25,000 doses were delivered to Northern Ireland last Friday.
Joanna Sloan on being the first person in NI to get a Coved-19 vaccine
Vaccination will not be compulsory. Ministers have warned it could be Easter by the time restrictions are lifted in a significant way.
The vaccine will be rolled out at seven sites across Northern Ireland:
Belfast Trust - Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast
South Eastern Trust - Ulster Hospital, Dundonald
Southern Trust - South Lake Leisure Centre, Craigavon
Northern Trust - Seven Towers Leisure Centre, Ballymena
Western Trust - Foyle Arena, Londonderry, Omagh Leisure Centre and Lakeland Forum, Enniskillen
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