When Will You Get Your Vaccine?
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The HSE has said 40,000 fewer vaccines may be distributed this week than had been expected, due to use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in most age groups being suspended.
However, an additional 545,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be delivered between April and June, with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar saying Ireland is still very much on track to meet its vaccine target for the end of June and to further ease restrictions in early May.
Meanwhile around 18,000 people registered for a vaccination within hours of the online portal for 69-year-olds going live this morning.
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WATCH: Sign language incorporated into Covid-19 mental health information videos in Cork and Kerry
Priscilla Lynch Head of Health and Wellbeing Cork Kerry Community Healthcare. Pic: Gerard McCarthy
Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) has teamed up with the Cork Deaf Club to ensure Irish Sign Language (ISL) is part of some of their videos.
New versions of the popular Five Days series on how to look after your mental health during Covid-19 have been produced with ISL incorporated thanks to a sign language interpreter appearing on screen.
The Five Ways Over Five Days series of videos was first published last year by CKCH.
The demand for COVID-19 testing in Kerry has dropped steadily in recent weeks.
That’s according to a letter from Cork Kerry Community Healthcare sent to councillors in the Kenmare Municipal District.
Kerry County Council had written to the HSE on behalf of the Kenmare MD councillors to enquire about the provision of a test centre in South Kerry.
The response from Priscilla Lynch, Head of Service, Health and Wellbeing at Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, says there are currently no plans to add more test centres.
She says the demand for testing in Kerry has dropped steadily, which reflects falling case numbers in the county.
Widespread Use Of Rapid COVID-19 Testing Recommended In New Report
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An expert group report has recommended widespread use of rapid COVID-19 testing.
It suggests that tests such as lateral flow antigen tests (LFAT) should complement existing PCR testing programmes.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirmed that rapid testing is currently being used in the HSE, and that there is a large pilot being run in meat processing plants, but added that while rapid testing has an important role to play, it should not replace PCR testing.
We spoke to Priscilla Lynch, clinical editor of the Medical Independent, and Róisín Shortall, co-leader of the Social Democrats, about this and other COVID-19 issues.