Galway Bay fm newsroom – NUI Galway has joined a new European network which hopes to accelerate clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines.

The EU ‘Vaccelerate’ project connects stakeholders from across the continent who are involved in vaccine development.

‘Vaccelerate’ aims to coordinate phase 2 & 3 Covid-19 vaccine trials across all EU-member states, as well as EU-associated countries.

The goal is to link clinical trial sites and expert knowledge, and promote the exchange of expertise in the vaccine development field across Europe.

Ultimately, it’s hoped this will lead to faster and more efficient trials of Covid-19 vaccines in development.

NUI Galway’s role in the project focuses on two particular areas.

Firstly, researchers are mapping and reviewing global Covid-19 vaccine trials, of which there are currently 164.

Secondly, researchers will examine the barriers and facilitators to vaccination uptake in the adult population internationally.

The Vaccelerate project is led by the University Hospital Cologne in Germany and involves 26 partners from 16 EU-member states and 5 associated countries.

NUI Galway and UCD are the Irish partners in the network, with funding provided under the EU Horizon 2020 initiative.

Galway Bay fm newsroom – The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 14 additional deaths related to COVID-19.

3 deaths occurred in March, 10 in February and 1 in November.

There has been a total of 4,333 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.

As of midnight, Monday 1^st March, the HPSC has been notified of 359 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 220,630* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.

Of the cases notified today:

• 157 are men / 193 are female
• 66% are under 45 years of age
• The median age is 34 years old
• 159 in Dublin, 25 in Westmeath, 21 in Louth, 21 in Galway, 19 in Meath and the remaining 114 cases are spread across 19 other counties**.

As of 8am today, 498 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 116 are in ICU. 28 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of February 27th, 435,895 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland:

• 294,550 people have received their first dose
• 141,345 people have received their second dose

The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community including daily data on Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme.

Dr Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health said: “While the low number of cases reported today may be attributable to a weekend effect, it is nevertheless very welcome and represents the lowest number of cases reported on a single day since mid-December.

“While we continue to make good progress in Ireland, globally in the past week, the number of cases of COVID-19 has increased for the first time in 7 weeks. We must not allow this virus the opportunity to do the same here. Please hold firm to the public health advice and together we can continue to protect and build on the progress we have made over the last 2 months”

ENDS//

*Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 2 confirmed cases. The figure of 220,630 confirmed cases reflects this.

**County data should be considered provisional as the national Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting System (CIDR) is a dynamic system and case details are continually being validated and updated.

Today’s cases, 5-day moving average of new cases, 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population and new cases in last 14 days (as of midnight 01 March 2021) (incidence rate based on Census 2016 county population)

~The 5-day moving average of the number of new cases provides an appropriate indicator of current daily case numbers within a county. It takes account of any validation of cases for previous days and smooths out daily/weekend fluctuations in case numbers.

• 7-day incidence 91.4
• 5-day moving average 633

Junior Minister and Portumna native, Anne Rabbitte, says the proposed major redevelopment of a well-known harbour will transform the town as a tourist attraction.

Connaught Harbour is located just across the bridge into Portumna from the Tipperary side of the border, behind the Emerald Star/Le Boat premises.

It’s set to be significantly overhauled as part of a new masterplan for the River Shannon, which has been published today.

The masterplan sets out to invest more than €70 million in visitor facilities in the Shannon river region by 2030 and aims to boost visitor numbers by 400,000 over the next 9 years.

Works at Connaught Harbour will include additional mooring berths, picnic areas, extra car parking, considerable visual upgrades and a new cycling and walking trail into Portumna.

Fianna Fail Minister Rabbitte says the works will help realise the full potential of Portumna as a place to visit – to hear an extended interview on this, tune in to FYI Galway@5