Number of vaccine doses for NI confirmed

The company announced, alongside American pharamaceutical company Pfizer, that the vaccine has been found to be 90% effective.

The UK government has agreed a deal to acquire an initial 20 million doses of the vaccine if it passes all remaining trials.

The Department of Health in Northern Ireland has confirmed that the allocation for Northern Ireland will be “roughly 570,000 doses”.

A spokesperson for the Department said: “Northern Ireland will receive allocation under the Barnett formula.”

The Barnett formula is a mechanism ordinarily used by the UK Treasury to allocate funding to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in proportion with overall spending, and is based largely on population levels.

The Department of Health spokesperson continued: “We are part of the UK order. The vaccine will be split using the Barnett formula so for the first 20 million doses which are scheduled to be in the UK by the end of March 2021, Northern Ireland would receive roughly 570,000 doses.”

The spokesperson added: “This is very good news, although the vaccine stills needs to officially pass the phase three trails and then receive authorisation from MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) before it can be used in the UK.”

Yesterday, when the announcement of 90% effectiveness was made by Pfizer and BioNTech, the Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann welcomed the news but cautioned the public not to “let down their guard”.

Mr Swann said: “We have been waiting a long time for positive news. While there are very important regulatory and safety assurance hurdles to still be cleared, today represents a step forward.

“While there are no guarantees, there is a possibility that vaccination of at risk sections of our community could begin by the end of this year.

“However, I would appeal to everyone not to let down their guard just because there is some light at the end of this very long tunnel. It will likely be well into 2021 before a vaccine is generally available to the population – not least because mass global vaccination is a huge logistical challenge.”

He continued: “As I have said before, we are in for a hard slog this winter – in terms of intense pressures on our health service and unavoidable restrictions on our daily lives.

“We all have to redouble our efforts – continue limiting our contacts and keeping our distance from each other; wear face coverings when required; and keep washing our hands.

“But let’s be positive about the future. The incredible progress to date on developing a vaccine - together with planned mass testing and improved treatments - means we can look towards next Spring with some hope. Pessimists keep telling us we will be locked into endless stop-start cycles of restrictions. I have faith that they will be proved wrong.”

The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent expert advisory group, will advise Government on which COVID-19 vaccine(s) should be used, and on the priority groups to receive the vaccine based on the best available clinical, modelling and epidemiological data.

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