OVER ONE MILLION people in Northern Ireland are now fully vaccinated having received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The Department of Health has confirmed that 70% of the adult population in Northern Ireland have received both doses.

Minister of Health for Northern Ireland, Robert Swann said the vaccination programme in the North “has been an outstanding success to date and has helped us take significant strides towards the more normal life that we all want to see return.

“For all those who have already come forward for vaccination, thank you. You have helped play your part in getting us to where we are. You have helped to protect yourself, those around you and our health service,” he added.

He said there is now a need for a concerted drive to increase vaccine take-up rates even further.

“We have all seen cases rise over recent weeks and we are now also beginning to see hospitalisations increase too – albeit at a lower rate, thanks to the effectiveness of our vaccination programme. If we can make a concerted effort to increase vaccine uptake in the next week or so, this can help make a decisive difference, in terms of preventing serious illness and hospitalisations,” said Swann.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Michael McBride said: “This virus is not going away and increasingly the only way we all get back to doing more of the things we want to do is for more of the population to be vaccinated.”

Officials said there would be a push to get younger people to sign up for the vaccine, with the uptake in the under 30s in Northern Ireland at 56%.

HSE boss Paul Reid said today the hospitalisation numbers in the Republic are rising with 123 people in hospital who tested positive for the virus, while ICU numbers are steady at 21.

“Positively, now over 5.5 million vaccines administered with 83% of adults now partially vaccinated and over 68% fully. As hospitality, society & the economy opens up further, let’s all embrace it safely and make it work,” he said on Twitter.