Covid jab offered to five to 11-year-old children in Ireland

Children aged five to 11 can now be registered for a Covid-19 vaccine in the Republic of Ireland, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said.

The HSE's chief clinical officer told RTÉ that some high-risk children have already received a jab in hospitals.

Children with underlying conditions and those who live with a vulnerable person will take priority before the programme expands to the wider cohort.

It follows the opening of the booster vaccine programme to over-16s.

That was a week earlier than Irish public health officials had planned.

HSE chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said he hoped that the vaccines would start being administered to children in the five to 11 age group within the next two weeks.

On Monday, a further 16,986 confirmed cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the Republic.

There are 804 patients being treated in hospital with the virus, 93 of whom are in intensive care units.

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Meanwhile, the Irish Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, said the government is set to consider reducing the self-isolation period from 10 to five days for some people who test positive for coronavirus.

Last month, the Northern Ireland Executive agreed to reduce the isolation period from 10 to seven days if people could provide a negative lateral flow test.