Staff vaccinations get underway at South Tipp General in Clonmel

Staff members at South Tipp General Hospital in Clonmel receiving the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine earlier today. Photo: @STGHNursing / Twitter

Staff Covid-19 vaccinations are underway at South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel.

Workers there have begun receiving their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab earlier today, as part of the ongoing rollout of the vaccine in the country’s hospitals.

Vaccination at the county’s nursing homes is expected to be ramped up next week, after the first facilities in the county began administering doses yesterday.

Meanwhile, a third Covid-19 vaccine could be approved for use in Europe by the end of January.

The European Medicines Agency says it expects an application for conditional marketing to be submitted by AstraZeneca next week.

It comes as the European Commission agreed to buy an additional 200 million doses of the Pfizer Bio-N-Tech vaccine. The Moderna vaccine has also been approved for use by the EU.

Executive Director of the EMA, Emer Cooke says they are working as fast as possible to approve Covid vaccines.