REGISTRATION DATES FOR people between the age of 40 and 49 to receive a Covid-19 vaccine will be announced next week, according to HSE Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry.

Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week, Henry said that the HSE will make an announcement on vaccine registration for the 40-49 age bracket later this week, with the expectation that some will be able to receive a first dose before the end of the month.

“We expect them to go right through the month of later May [sic] and the month of June,” said Henry.

It comes as people aged 50 were able to register for their vaccine from 13 May, allowing everyone between the age of 50-69 now able to receive a vaccine.

When asked if people in their 40s should be able to receive either a Johnson & Johnson vaccine or an AstraZeneca vaccine, Henry said that the HSE had received updated advice on their use and would come to an operational decision midweek on their use.

“We’ve just received the information ourselves in the HSE, we’ll be going through that in the coming days and I expect we’ll come to a decision ourselves, an operational decision ourselves, in midweek.”

“Clearly what we want to do is progress with a safe, effective vaccination program at speed and at pace to cover as much of the population as possible, and using the stocks of vaccines that are coming to the country in the most effective and safe way,” said Henry.

It comes as the HSE continues to battle a significant ransomware attack against its IT system, which has lead to disruption across the health service.

However, the HSE has said that the vaccination programme has not been impacted by the attack and that people should continue to use the vaccination portal to register for their jabs.