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 J&J's vaccine, which requires only one dose for protection, is
expected to be approved on March 11 for use in the European Union by
the bloc's regulator. EU officials have said deliveries could start
in April.
In an updated roll-out plan published last month, Ireland forecast
that it would receive 602,000 J&J shots in the second quarter -
around 15% of its total quarterly supply - and would start
administering the vaccine in the first week of April.
"The assumption on Johnson & Johnson is about 600k over quarter two,
but primarily back-ended. Smaller numbers in mid-April," Health
Service Executive (HSE) chief Paul Reid told a parliamentary
committee.
Ireland has administered almost 525,000 vaccines among its
population of 4.9 million, primarily using the Pfizer-BioNTech,
vaccine. Almost 150,000 have also received the second of their two
doses.
Reid said Ireland expects to receive 1.1 million vaccines by the end
of March, with a revised 1.2 million target for first quarter
deliveries drifting into the first week of April.
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 Between delays in supply and
changes to the sequencing and prioritisation of
who gets which shot, the HSE has changed its
operating plan 15 to 17 times since the
programme began at the start of the year, he
added.
"Our first quarter has been an experience of
high levels of frustration on supply issues, to
be frank. Pfizer has been more stable but we did
have one change to their supply line. Moderna,
of late, unstable and certainly AstraZeneca has
been unstable," he said.
"That has been an EU-wide issue as well. We
would expect the second quarter to have a higher
level of predictability."
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Giles
Elgood)
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