Ireland hopeful over vaccine rollout
A Covid vaccine should be available to anyone who wants to get one in Ireland by the middle of next year, Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said.After Ireland's government approved a plan for the vaccine rollout, Coveney told national broadcaster RTE: "I think certainly by the middle of next year, we will be very hopeful that the vaccine will be available for anyone who wants it."
Once the EU's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has approved the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, Coveney said vaccinations in Ireland should be able to start seven to 10 days later.
The EMA has brought forward a decision on the vaccine to 21 December, meaning vaccinations could start in Ireland before the end of the year.
'Applying for 300 jobs was disheartening'
All day on BBC Radio 5 live, listeners are sharing their stories about Covid.
Two young women have told presenter Rachel Burden how it felt to start claiming universal credit for the first time during the pandemic.
Although there has been a widespread increase in the number of people claiming benefits since the start of the pandemic, women under 30 have been particularly hard-hit.
Danielle Owen, aged 27, from Swindon, was furloughed from her recruitment job at an international company, and was eventually made redundant in July.
She receives £408 per month in Universal Credit, which leaves her with £7 spare after paying her mortgage.
Danielle is paying for bills and food using her redundancy pay-out until she starts in a new role next year. Before that, she had written more than 300 job applications.
"There was so many people applying for them that three quarters of them, I never heard back from. It was very disheartening," she said.
Rosalyn is 23 and lives in north London. She was an actor and a front-of-house theatre worker when Covid hit.
"I remember getting an email from my boss saying, 'That's it, there's no more shifts.'
"I wasn't entitled to furlough either," she said.
It took about two months for Rosalyn's Universal Credit to come through. She said it was "definitely" a low time: "Sitting, twiddling your thumbs, waiting to be able to pay your rent".
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