Covid: Use of AstraZeneca vaccine put on hold
There have been no new deaths reported to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre today.
As of midnight on Saturday, the HPSC was notified of 384 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 226,741.
They include less than five in Mayo, now with 159 over the past two weeks.
It gives the county a 14-day incidence rate of 121.8 - below the national average of 150.7.
Of the cases notified today:
195 are men and 187 are women.
73% are under 45 years of age.
The median age is 31 years old.
145 in Dublin, 41 in Kildare, 37 in Offaly, 29 in Galway, 24 in Cork and the remaining 108 cases are spread across 17 other counties
As of 8 a.m. today, 349 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, 86 in ICU. There have been 17 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Numbers of people vaccinated
As of last Thursday there have been 589,512 doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered in Ireland:
426,819 people have received their first dose
162,693 people have received their second dose.
Meanwhile, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) has recommended that the administration of the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine be temporarily deferred.
In a statement, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said the recommendation has been made following a report from the Norwegian Medicines Agency of four new reports of serious blood clotting events in adults after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
"Following new information received from the Norwegian Medicines Agency on Saturday evening March 13 and following discussions with the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) has recommended that the administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca be temporarily deferred from this morning, Sunday, March 14.
"This recommendation has been made following a report from the Norwegian Medicines Agency of four new reports of serious blood clotting events in adults after vaccination with Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca.
"It has not been concluded that there is any link between the Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca® and these cases.
"However, acting on the precautionary principal, and pending receipt of further information, the NIAC has recommended the temporary deferral of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca vaccination programme in Ireland.
The chair of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee said it will be the end of the coming week before a conclusion is reached on whether to continue administering the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
Professor Karina Butler said that the temporary suspension is necessary until such a time they receive additional information that gives them confidence.
It is reported that 30,000 people will have their AstraZeneca vaccination appointments cancelled this week as a result of the situation.