Ireland to speed up vaccinating younger people in Delta battle

DUBLIN - Ireland will give 18- to 34-year-olds the option of receiving a COVID-19 vaccine one to two months earlier than scheduled in a bid to slow the spread of the Delta variant of the disease and resume a delayed reopening of the economy.

Ireland had planned to resume indoor eating in restaurants from Monday but announced a slowdown of the easing of restrictions this week due to concerns about the Delta variant, which now accounts for around 70% of new cases. Almost 45% of Ireland's 3.7 million adult population have been fully vaccinated and 65% have received their first of two doses. The health service has been working its way down the age groups and began to vaccinate 35- to 39-year-olds in the last week.