Doses for 1.4 million adults will be made available from mid-September. For the first time, a mass vaccination of 600,000 children is planned, but this will not start until mid- to late October, it is understood. This is close to the recommended timeline of within two weeks of the annual flu season.
With 30.6 cases per 100,000 population over the last fortnight, the incidence of the disease in Ireland is up to 12 times higher than it was two months ago, according to figures from the European Centre for Disease Control. Businesses in Co Kildare yesterday welcomed the Government’s decision to lift restrictions imposed on the county last month following a steep rise in cases, initially linked to outbreaks in local meat processing plants.The decision was made despite Kildare still having the highest incidence of any county in the Republic, although the trend is downwards.