The Public Health Agency says it brought the vaccination programme forward as a precautionary measure.
Dr Joanne McClean from the PHA said that there was no evidence that the new variant was more transmissible or would cause more severe illness.and Dr McClean said it was "inevitable" that it would eventually be detected in Northern Ireland."We always said that new variants emerged that looked a bit different that we would react to that and that's what we are doing", she said.
She said the PHA currently did not have plans to roll out a wider vaccination programme with the focus being on protecting the most vulnerable groups.
"This isn't about the decision or the rationale," he explained. "It's about the communication. GPs as we all know deliver the vast majority of these vaccines every year," he said."We don't have the CMO letter which officially starts the programme, we haven't been told what vaccine we are going to use, we haven't got any information on supply of vaccine or delivery dates or quotas.
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