One in four Cork children registered for Covid-19 vaccine

ONE in four children in Cork has been registered to receive a Covid-19 vaccine, while more than 11% of those aged between five and 11 have been fully vaccinated against the virus.

The Covid vaccination programme for children got under way in Cork last month, with vaccines being provided to children in Cork city and county at a dedicated vaccination centre on North Main Street, which was previously used for the school immunisation programme.

Figures obtained by The Echo show 25% of five- to 11-year-olds have registered for a Covid-19 vaccine within the Cork area in recent weeks.

A breakdown of vaccination status by age group, published by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, shows that nationally an estimated 12.1% of children aged between five and 11 have now been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

In Cork, this figure stands at 11.7%, slightly below the national estimate.

It comes as latest figures show at least 1,305 children aged from 0 to 14 years in Cork have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past two weeks.

COVID CASES

The figures, from the HPSC, which relate to the period up to February 17, refer to those who have had a positive PCR test for Covid-19 and do not include information relating to those with a positive antigen test.

Therefore, the number of children who have tested positive for the virus could actually be much higher.

According to the HPSC, Wicklow has reported the highest estimated vaccine take-up among children aged between 5 and 11, with 20.7% of children in this age group now fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The take-up figure is lowest in Co Leitrim at 6%.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre was yesterday notified of 4,821 PCR-confirmed cases of Covid-19.

In addition, on Thursday, 3,772 people registered a positive antigen test through the HSE portal.

As of 8am yesterday, 591 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, of whom 57 are in ICU.

On Thursday night, 37 people with Covid-19 were being cared for at hospitals in Cork.

Overall, 71,624 PCR-confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported nationally in the last fortnight.

Of these, 8,349 PCR-confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Cork.

In terms of the overall population vaccinated, the latest HPSC report shows that 93.1% of all people aged 12 and over nationally have been vaccinated.

In Cork, this figure stands at 96.2%.

The figure is highest in Carlow at 99.6% and lowest in Donegal at 84.5%.