Covid-19 vaccine booking opens to 40-44 age group

Almost a million vaccine doses have been administered in Northern Ireland to date

People aged from 40 to 44 are now eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine in latest expansion of Northern Ireland's vaccination programme.

Booking opened at midday on Thursday and 17,374 people have booked appointments already.

NI's chief medical officer has urged those eligible to book their jab.

Appointments are available to book online at the Health and Social Care booking website and by telephone on 0300 200 7813.

Health Minister Robin Swann said the announcement was a welcome development.

"Vaccination is by far our best defence against Covid-19 and is essential to our goal of getting Northern Ireland out of lockdown on a sustainable basis," he said.

Almost a million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Northern Ireland.

There have been 799,410 first doses and 173,772 second doses.

Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride said the benefits of receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine "far outweigh any potential risk for the vast majority of adults".

"We all want to live without a constant dread of Covid and to get our old lives back," he said, adding that vaccination has an "essential role in ensuring we have a better and safer summer".

The AstraZeneca vaccine has been administered almost 500,000 times in Northern Ireland

About half of the total of 973,182 doses administered in Northern Ireland were the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Concerns had been expressed after a small number of unusual blood clots were reported among some people worldwide who had received a first dose.

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Northern Ireland's Department of Health has said it would follow the advice of Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which decides vaccine priorities in the UK.

The JCVI has said young adults aged 18-29 who do not have an underlying medical condition should be offered an alternative vaccine, when available.

Those who have already had a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine will still receive their second, unless they are among the very small number of people who have experienced blood clots with low platelet counts after their first dose.

'Best pathway'

Dr McBride said vaccines still offered the "best pathway" out of the pandemic.

"Vaccination is the best protection from what is a serious virus that has taken many lives and impacted on many livelihoods," he told BBC News NI.

"The uptake has been very good across all of the age groups.

"There are always balances between the risks and the benefits [of vaccines] and for the vast majority of people the risks of Covid are greater."