LAST UPDATE | 15 Feb 2021

THIS WEEK IS a big week for Ireland’s vaccination programme with jabs beginning for the third cohort in Ireland’s prioritisation list. 

The third group is over-70s, with that beginning today in a tiered way that starts with the sub-cohort of those aged over 85. 

That sub-cohort of people aged over 85 numbers some 72,500 people, not including those who live in residential care who are vaccinated under the first cohort.

Over the upcoming week, some 13,500 people aged over 85 will receive their first jab and TheJournal.ie published a detailed explainer this morning about how that will work. 

Those 13,500 recipients does not represent the totality of those receiving vaccines this week, with some 80,000 people in total receiving a vaccine. 

That includes 42,500 people living in care homes who will receive either a first or second and 25,000 healthcare workers in the same bracket. 

It means that the total vaccination target for this week is includes about 81,000 people. 

HSE CEO Paul Reid has described this a s a “very exciting week” vin terms of the vaccine roll-out, both because a new cohort is being reached and that the mix of the vaccines being used.  

So far, over 95% of the doses used have been Pfizer/BionTech vaccine but the use of Moderna and Oxford/AstraZeneca is to be ramped up in the coming weeks. 

“We’ve gotten a significant extra delivery which is helping us firstly to vaccinate another 42,500 people in long term care facilities,” Reid told Newstlk Breakfast this morning. 

That will be their second dose, so there’s now nearly two-thirds of that cohort completed for their second dose. 25,000 frontline health care workers and 13,500 of the 85-year-old pluses being vaccinated. 

Total vaccinations

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The latest data from Ireland’s Covid-19 data hub shows that 175,238 people have received their first dose of a vaccine up until Friday, with 89,999 people having received two doses. 

The Department of Health has also confirmed the sites for Ireland’s 37 national vaccination centres, with at least one in each county. 

PUP

Meanwhile, a total of 477,665 people will receive the Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week, a decrease of 3,666 compared to last week. 

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These figures are in addition to the 188,543 people who were on the Live Register at the end of January. 

All PUPs issued will be in recipients’ bank accounts or at their post office tomorrow.

Dublin is the county with the highest number of people who are receiving PUP this week at 148,879. It is followed by Cork (48,658) and Galway (25,496).

All sectors with the exception of electrical/gas/water supply sector have fewer people receiving PUP this week than last week, reflecting the number of people who have closed their claims in recent weeks to return to work.

The sector with the highest number of people receiving PUP this week is accommodation and food service activities (111,280), followed by wholesale and retail trade (75,927) and construction (62,197).

Construction is the sector that has seen the largest decrease in the number of people receiving PUP this week, with 705 less people receiving the payment compared to last week.

Some 50% of those receiving PUP are receiving the maximum rate of €350 this week.

With reporting by Hayley Halpin