JABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC...

Two thirds of Irish adults vaccinated by end of weekend

- MICHELLE DEVANE and CATE McCURRY

TWO-thirds of adults will have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine by the end of the weekend, the Taoiseach has said.

Micheal Martin also confirmed one third will be fully jabbed by tomorrow.

Speaking at Government Buildings, he said: “This current week is the biggest week in terms of the administration of vaccine with 330,000 being administered.

“Thursday was the biggest day yet at 58,000 vaccines administered.

“I think it’s a phenomenal achievement. Over the weekend 3.5 million vaccines will have been administered in this country [to date].

“It’s an unprecedented vaccination programme that I will attribute to the national taskforce, the HSE and all of the vaccinators across the country, including GPs, who will have collectively administered 1.5 million since the programme began.

“We also have the highest rates in terms of participation rates in the different age cohorts, which I think is giving us an edge in terms of protecting society from the virus.” The Fianna Fail leader said there were 18 people in ICU yesterday morning and 24 hospitals around the country had two or fewer Covid patients.