An Irish woman became the first person in the world to receive the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine yesterday, as government announced their provisional list of groups to be vaccinated. Amongst those prioritised for immunisation are workers essential to education, including special needs assistants.

The Irish Times reported that Fórsa said it will also push for state employees such as local authority staff, community sector workers and some civil servants to be included as key workers who cannot avoid a high risk of exposure. KCLR mentioned that Andy Pike is due to meet with government officials later today for discussions to this effect.

Trade unions have launched a campaign for a "new deal" including "significant" government financial assistance to rebuild the retail and distribution sector and to tackle low pay and insecure work. Learn more about that from the national broadcaster here, or the paper of record here.

The workplace is no longer the centre of the universe. This article examines how the pandemic has impacted the world of work, and the lasting effects it will have on job flexibility.

And finally, today's Zen is brought to you by the frequently-described "Poet Laureate of Twitter", Brian Bliston. He spent 2020 completing a Haiku journal, one poem for every month. My personal favourite is August's installation: 

engulfed with feelings 

of guilt, shame and loneliness -

have eaten my friend

Check out the other 11 months here.