The latest data from hospitals in Northern Ireland shows getting vaccinated reduces your likelihood of getting Covid and of passing it on to other people, according to the Department of Health.

It also shows, most crucially, the vaccine dramatically reduces your likelihood of becoming seriously ill and dying.

The Department of Health revealed that  of those in ICU wards with Covid, 72 per cent are unvaccinated, 8 per cent have had one dose and 20 per cent have had two doses.

Unvaccinated people make up less than 12 per cent of our adult population – yet account for 72 per cent of people in ICU.

The Department said adults who have not had two vaccine doses are more than five times as likely to be admitted to hospital, and around 10 times more likely to be admitted to ICU, compared with fully vaccinated adults. 

In December last year, for every 1,000 cases of COVID-19 in Northern Ireland, around 80 were admitted to hospital. Currently, the figure for hospitalisations is in the region of 20 per 1,000 cases.

"It was always anticipated that a small minority of vaccinated people would still get seriously ill with the virus," the Department said in a press release today, Friday.

"No vaccine in history has ever been 100 per cent effective for 100 per cent of people. This underlines the fact that we must all remain vigilant against Covid and not rely just on the vaccine to protect us. Testing, self-isolation, social distancing, face covering, good ventilation and avoiding crowded indoor settings – these all play a vital part in keeping us safe.