THE ONLINE BOOKING system will open next week for the 50-59 age cohort, Micheál Martin has announced.

During his speech to the nation tonight the Taoiseach paid tribute to the people who have used the portal already, which until now has been available for those aged 60 and over only. 

“You have responded extremely positively to the launch of the online portal, and I’m pleased to confirm that over the course of next week, the portal will open for registration to all those aged 50-59,” he said.

The Taoiseach said during his speech that by tonight, more than 1.5 million vaccine doses will have been administered.  

“That means close to 30% of everyone over 16 has received at least one dose of the vaccine,” he said.

The HSE have said people are being asked to register by age on specific days to avoid delays – the next opening will be announced next week. 

People registering for their vaccine on the HSE website will need: 

• Their PPS number
• Their Eircode
• A mobile phone number
• An email address

People who don’t have all of these, or who would prefer not to register online, can call HSELive on 1850 241 850 for assistance with the registration process. 

Earlier HSE CEO Paul Reid said that work was being carried out on the revised vaccination plan following recent recommendations NIAC and decisions by government.

 He said the new plan – version 27 – will be finalised over the weekend and early next week.

“It will be a plan that accommodates the various adjustments that we have to make and continues to increase our administration of vaccines based on available supplies,” he said.

He said the HSE will have to model out the supply of vaccines and get “the best confirmation that we can” from suppliers for May and June. He said the health service is hoping to be able to strengthen the level of predictability and reliability of supply levels for each vaccine.

The HSE will also examine the use of the J&J vaccine for ‘hard-to-reach groups’, referral pathways for pregnant women and when that rollout might begin.

“We’ll continue to design the next phase of the plan based on the government plan on sequencing and prioritisation.

“We will build a plan based on continuing down through the ages based on the fact that they are known risk factors,” he added.