Covid-19: Almost a quarter of a million vaccine doses given

Almost a quarter of a million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Northern Ireland.

Health Minister Robin Swann told the NI Assembly that as of Sunday, 246,421 vaccines had been administered.

Of those, 221,809 were first doses and 24,612 were second doses.

In figures released on Monday, the Department of Health (DoH) recorded 11 further coronavirus-related deaths and 314 further positive cases of the virus.

Mr Swann said vaccination of priority groups one and two, which includes care home residents and staff, those aged over 80 and frontline health workers, have "largely been completed".

"Most people aged 80 years and over should now have been invited to receive their first dose or have been advised they can expect to receive the vaccine," he told MLAs.

Those aged 70 and over are receiving the AstraZeneca jab from their GPs while those aged 65 and over are invited to book an appointment at one of seven regional vaccination centres for the Pfizer vaccination.

The GP programme is currently working through priority groups three and four, including those aged 70-79 and people deemed clinically extremely vulnerable.

Mr Swann said wastage levels are less than 0.5%, which was much lower than normal vaccination programmes.

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Support for 'quarantine hotels'

A virtual meeting of Stormont ministers with the British and Irish governments will take place on Monday afternoon to discuss travel rules during the pandemic.

The health minister said he would be among those involved in the talks.

Mr Swann told the assembly he supported the idea of "quarantine hotels" that has already been adopted in other countries to manage the spread of the virus, but he said any approach should be done on a "five-nations basis".

Covid care home inquiry

Meanwhile, MLAs have made a series of recommendations into how care homes should deal with the impact of Covid-19.

An inquiry has made 54 recommendations examining the issues of testing, visiting, PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), staff pay and pandemic planning.

The report by Stormont's Health committee says families should be involved directly in the decision-making process concerning visiting.

It recommends that care workers should be tested daily and residents should be tested frequently, at least fortnightly.

The report said care homes need to be central to pandemic planning in the future and recommended that each care home should have designated and appropriately trained staff.

MLAs also said that the human rights of residents and visitors needed to be considered.

The report was agreed by all parties on the health committee.

The inquiry, which was launched last year, aimed to examine best practices in other locations and consider what steps could be taken to improve local services.

O'Neill isolating

Meanwhile, on Monday Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill confirmed she was self-isolating after a member of her household tested positive for Covid-19.

In a tweet, she said she would continue to carry out her ministerial duties from home.

She said she would "continue to protect families, workers and to take us through this pandemic".

In other coronavirus-related developments on Monday:

• Cinemas in Northern Ireland face an uncertain future because of the Covid-19 pandemic, some of the leading operators have warned

• The EU says UK-Swedish drug firm AstraZeneca will now supply an additional nine million Covid vaccine doses by March, after days of criticism of the bloc's vaccination programme