It has been confirmed that people aged 18 -34 will be able to register for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at Pharmacies from Monday.

The age limit on AstraZeneca has also been reduced to 18.

The Health Minister today signed off on a new plan to accelerate the vaccine programme.

In a statement, the HSE said there are around 53,000 Johnson & Johnson J&J vaccines available at 700 pharmacies with a further 70,000 available "at short notice."

These are already available to anyone aged 50 and over and will be available to people aged 18 - 34 from Monday.

The HSE said they will not be available to 35 to 49-year-olds because the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are available to them.

"From Monday next, July 5th, Janssen vaccines will be available through the pharmacy to those aged 18 - 34, as there is no mRNA vaccine currently available to them," said a HSE spokesperson.

"People aged 35 - 49 can currently avail of mRNA vaccines through the online registration process and therefore may not avail of Janssen vaccination through pharmacy."

At the moment, people aged 34 and up can register for any of the four approved vaccines through HSE vaccine portal. The portal opens to people aged 30 and up from next Friday.

From mid-July, the portal will allow younger people to opt-in to getting either AstraZeneca or J&J at a vaccination centre if they wish.

It comes after the National immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) reduced the age limit on the two adenovirus-based jabs.

A tough few days for us all to absorb. A contrast of joy & reassurance from the vaccination programme to great angst re Delta. But our vaccination programme is at its highest levels & #COVID19 hospitalisations down to 39 (14 in ICU). It's about staying positive & alert. @HSELive

— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) June 30, 2021

The Irish Pharmacy Union CEO Darragh O'Loughlin said there has been a lot of interest from young people already.

“I would hope the minister would sign off on the plan this morning and make his announcement,” he said.

“People are very anxious to see the vaccine programme expanded. Pharmacists want to get started. As I said, they have already got a lot of people making enquiries and coming in to make appointments to have their vaccination so I certainly see no reason why the minister would delay beyond this morning for that announcement.”

He said the new plan will get more people vaccinated more quickly.

“Judging by the number of younger people who are already making enquiries in pharmacies to see if they can get vaccinated, I would say there will be a tremendous uptake among young people,” he said.

Speaking last night, HSE chief Paul Reid said the plan could see the roll-out completed weeks ahead of schedule.

He said people in their early 20s would have been waiting until late-September for the jab without the changes.

Around 220,000 Johnson & Johnson doses are expected to be available in Ireland in July – with around 53,000 in stock at pharmacies already.

The vaccine portal for the 30 to 34-year-old age group is expected to open next week.