LAST UPDATE | May 8th 2021, 5:24 PM

THE RECORD FOR the most vaccines administered in a single day has been broken again, with over 46,000 doses administered on Thursday.

A total of 34,100 first doses were administered, bringing the total number of first doses to 1,267,167.

There were 12,978 second doses administered, to a total of 467,471 second doses.

This now brings the total number of vaccines administered since the pandemic began to 1,746,912, according to the Covid-19 data hub.

It comes as The Journal is reporting this morning that it would be possible for the HSE to hit 80% of adults vaccinated by 9 July, a week off the Government’s target.

It comes as the EU has signed a contract with Pfizer/BioNTech for at least 900 million vaccines, with the option of receiving 900 million more.

The announcement was made by European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen on Twitter this afternoon.

Happy to announce that @EU_Commission has just approved a contract for guaranteed 900 million doses (+900 million options) with @BioNTech_Group @Pfizer for 2021-2023.

Other contracts and other vaccine technologies will follow.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 8, 2021

These vaccines are set to be delivered between 2021 and 2023.

Von der Leyen has said that the next step in Europe’s Covid-19 response will be to deliver booster shots as well as dealing with “possible escape variants”.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed on Twitter that he had secured cabinet approval for Ireland to be involved in the purchase of these vaccines.

Donnelly also confirmed this afternoon that half a million people have registered for a vaccine appointment through the online portal.

Currently, the vaccine portal is open to those between the ages of 55 and 69, with those between 50 and 54 set to be allowed to register in the coming days.

Mandatory Hotel Quarantine

Donnelly announced this evening that he would be adding a further two countries to Ireland’s list of designated countries.

These two countries are Nepal and Anguilla.

The decision was made following advice from the Chief Medical Officer, with all passengers travelling from these states after 4am on 12 May, expected to enter into mandatory hotel quarantine.

Twelve countries have also been removed from the list of designated countries. These are:

Austria
Italy
Ukraine
Armenia
Aruba
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Curaçao
Jordan
Kosovo
Lebannon
North Macedonia

All travellers entering into Ireland are expected to have a negative pre-flight Covid-19 test, with those from non-designated countries expected to enter home quarantine upon arrival.

A full list of designated countries can be found here.

Hospitalisations

As of 8pm last night, there are now 111 patients in hospital being treated for Covid-19, according to the HSE’s Daily Operation Update.

Both the Mater Hospital and Tallaght Hospital are treating 13 Covid-19 patients, with Mullingar Hospital, Naas Hospital, St James’s Hospital and University Hospital Limerick treating eight each.

There are currently 34 patients in ICU, with 26 of these patients receiving ventilated care.

Eight of the ICU patients are receiving care in St James’s Hospital, with the Mater Hospital treating five.

HSE chief Paul Reid says that it is encouraging to see the drops in hospitalised patients after the huge numbers in hospital and ICU earlier this year.

Reid says that both the public’s adherence to the public health guidance and the vaccination programme is working to reduce hospitalisations.

“We now have a proven & winning combination, the vaccination programme & public support for public health measures,” said Reid on Twitter.

So encouraging that #COVID19 hospitalised patients are now down to 111 & 34 in ICU, from over 2,000 hospitalised & 200 in ICU, a few weeks ago. We now have a proven & winning combination, the vaccination programme & public support for public health measures. Its working.@HSELive
— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) May 8, 2021

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