HSE says sharp drop in COVID cases in nursing homes and among healthcare workers likely a 'vaccine effect'

The HSE says we could be starting to see a "vaccine effect" after a sharp drop in Covid cases in nursing homes and among healthcare workers.

Last week, there were 91 confirmed cases in residential care facilities - compared to almost 500 the previous week.

Latest figures show 226 thousand people have received their first dose of a Covid vaccine - including 87 thousand in nursing homes.

HSE Chief Clinical Officer, Dr Colm Henry, says they're also noticing a sharp drop in infections among healthcare staff: "From peaking in week two of 1,000 lab confirmed cases of COVID-19 in hospital staff to now, in this week six, it was 95 last week now we're looking at 50. That's a very severe drop, and it's very difficult to attribute that to falling community transmission alone, most likely explanation is we're now seeing an early vaccine effect."