People aged 16 to 29 years invited for COVID-19 vaccine booster dose

Friday 31 December 2021 

From today 31^st December 2021, the HSE is inviting people aged 16 – 29 years who have already completed their primary course of COVID-19 vaccine for their booster dose, in line with NIAC guidance.  

Without a booster dose, people are at greater risk from severe illness from COVID-19, and we are currently seeing the highest level of transmission of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. We encourage everyone aged 16 or over to attend for their booster, unless they are currently restricting movements because they’re a close contact of a case.

If it is time for your vaccination, you can:

• book a booster appointment online at HSE vaccination clinics. People aged 16-29 must book into a clinic for their age group and more clinics will be added over time.
• get your booster vaccine at a participating pharmacy, check the list of pharmacies.
• Some GPs are also vaccinating their patients.

We encourage everyone to avail of your booster dose when offered as it gives you the best protection from serious illness caused by COVID-19.

What to bring?

Please bring a photo ID with you. ID can include one of the following: passport, driver’s licence, Garda age card, student/school ID etc., but if your ID doesn't include your date of birth, please bring proof of your DOB (e.g. your Birth Cert).

What vaccine is available?

For people aged 16 to 29 years, you will be offered a single dose of Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. You can get this vaccine even if you got a different vaccine for your primary course.

The booster dose should be given at a minimum of a 3 month interval from a person’s last dose of a primary COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or AstraZeneca) so please ensure you are at least 3 months post second dose as this will be checked at the vaccination centre.

If you had COVID-19 since you were vaccinated, you should get your booster dose at least 3 months after your positive COVID-19 test result. Get more information on the COVID-19 booster vaccine.

We are also strongly urging those who have not yet received a primary COVID-19 vaccine dose, to consider attending one of the walk-in clinics for dose one or dose two of the vaccine, which continue to operate or register for an appointment here.

ENDS

Notes:

• GPs will continue to vaccinate down through the age groups
• People will be able to book their appointment through our self-scheduling system, which has proven very popular. Vaccination centres will commence with appointment based clinics for those under 30 in a number of designated centres with more clinics being scheduled through next week.
• Pharmacies will be able to vaccinate people by appointment where Pfizer stock is in place and we will be commencing further deliveries to pharmacies of Pfizer.
• Vaccination Centres will now be running different clinic types with three different vaccines (Children/Pfizer/Moderna) which will mean more scheduled clinics are being held.