The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK.
And the first jabs will be administered on Monday amid rising COVID-19 cases around the UK.
The approval has been welcomed by Health Minister Robin Swann.
He said over 33,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine have been given to care home residents and frontline workers in the Province – around 80 per cent.
First Minister Arlene Foster also welcomed the news.
Delighted with Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine progress. The world class strength & brilliance of UK scientists means our wider vaccination programme should start across Northern Ireland next week.
80% of care homes have already received their first dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
— Arlene Foster #We’llMeetAgain (@DUPleader) December 30, 2020
Second dose ☑️ First administration for our Director of Nursing and Patient Experience Brenda Creaney, fully trained in peer vaccination and part of the team! Thank you ❤️ #leadership #Nursing @patriciafergus2 @BelfastTrust @bernieowens12 pic.twitter.com/7AelWM3SIU
— Joanna (@Jomama_SR) December 29, 2020