Over 20K have received vaccine doses in Western Trust with all over 80s to have been offered jabs by GPs by end of week

First Minister Arlene Foster, providing an update on the progress of the programme on Thursday, said: "All over 80s will have been offered a vaccine by the end of this week."

She said the over 75s will start being offered vaccine doses next week.

Figures correct to January 20 show that 20,802 people have received an anti-COVID-19 jab as part of the the Western Trust nursing home and health care vaccination programme.

In total a further 42,619 doses have already been administered by GP practices across the north including in the Derry and Strabane area.

Across the north the total number of doses delivered by health trusts and GPs is now up to 166,588 (9 per cent of the population).

GP practices, meanwhile, are awaiting their second delivery of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccination.

They can expect to receive these by Friday this week so more people 80 years and older can be vaccinated.

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Fifty-five per cent (39,245) of those aged 80 and older have already been vaccinated by GPs.

Dr. Margaret O’ Brien, Head of GP services, Health and Social Care Board said, “We are working on our third delivery of the vaccination which is expected in the last week of January and which we expect will be able to meet GPs requirements to vaccinate all the over 80s, including those who are housebound and allow some practices to begin vaccinating those aged 75 years and older.”

Patients who are housebound will be contacted by their GP shortly. They will either be vaccinated by a GP or district nursing team. Guidance has been finalised by the Department of Health around the safe handling of vaccine and infection control to allow this to be delivered safely in a patient’s home.

As the Health and Social Care Trusts mobile teams will be stopping the care home vaccination programme soon, new guidance will also shortly be issued to GPs around how new residents to care homes will be vaccinated.