Rollout of Covid booster vaccines to over-60s begins today

Vivienne Clarke

People aged over 60 and pregnant women will begin receiving their second booster vaccine against Covid-19 from Monday.

The Irish Pharmaceutical Society has called the public to book in advance for booster jab which will be available in some community pharmacies.

David Twomey, spokesperson for the society, told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that generally people need an appointment, but that some would be able to accommodate “different scenarios”.

Book an appointment for your next COVID-19 booster vaccine if you’re aged 60 to 64 or you are 16 or more weeks pregnant: https://t.co/31C0x98EEp #ForUsAll pic.twitter.com/NEZ6wvG4J6

— HSE Ireland (@HSELive) August 14, 2022

Mr Twomey pointed out that 85 per cent of people in the country were within 5km of a pharmacy, which made them an ideal location for the rollout of the booster vaccine to other age groups.

The booster vaccine was available in community pharmacies around the country, he said, including 76 pharmacies in Cork and 159 in Dublin.

Anyone who had Covid recently would have to wait four months before they can get their booster, he said.

It would be available to over-60s from today, and also to pregnant women (16 weeks or more). From August 22nd the booster will be available to over 55s and to the over 50 age group from August 29th.

He said the vaccination programme kept people out of hospital so it was prudent to take it when it was available. “I would encourage people to support the [vaccination] programme.”

Mr Twomey acknowledged that some people might wait a few weeks to get the flu vaccine at the same time.