COVID-19

Vaccinated schoolchildren won't have to self-isolate

Vaccinated schoolchildren won't have to self-isolate

Vaccinated pupils will not have to stay at home if they're a close contact of a Covid-19 case in school.

However unvaccinated children will have to miss class time and restrict their movements.

The Irish Independent reports the HSE's planning to exempt vaccinated teens if they've no symptoms, part of new protocols ahead of the return to school.

The move would also apply in a primary school if a 12-year-old is fully vaccinated.

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Thousands of 12-15 year-olds become the latest to receive their vaccines this weekend, the Irish Examiner reports.

It comes as health officials have issued a stark warning that numbers in ICU with Covid-19 are now approaching the same levels as the peak of the second wave.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn warned cases were now rising in every county.

More than 75,000 children have been registered to receive a Covid-19 vaccine since the portal opened on Wednesday evening.

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Parents took to social media in droves to say the waiting time between registering and appointment dates is just days.

Up to Thursday, about 6.3m vaccines were given out across all the age groups. The  majority of people are now receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly welcomed the surge in registrations, saying: “Thank you to all the staff and volunteers in our programme and to the population who embraced the programme.”

Irish people have also now donated 1.25m vaccines through Unicef's "get a vaccine, give a vaccine" programme, up from 1m earlier this year.

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