The Beacon Hospital has become the final private hospital in Ireland to sign up to a “safety net” deal that allows the HSE to use private beds while coping with capacity pressure during Covid-19 surges. 

Public health doctors are to meet at the end of the month to discuss a new date for industrial action after strikes were postponed amid rising Covid-19 cases. In a ballot in November, 94% of public health doctors voted in favour of strike action following a dispute with the Department of Health over a consultant level contract for professionals in the area.

Joe Biden will be sworn-in as the 46th president of the United States today. The official transition of power will take place at noon local time (5pm Irish time), but Donald Trump has already said he won’t be there to pass the baton to his successor, becoming the first outgoing president not to do so since Andrew Johnson in 1869.

President-elect Biden announced he will nominate Dr Rachel Levine, a health expert from Pennsylvania who is trans, to be assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services. When appointed, Dr Levine would make history as the first openly trans federal official to win Senate confirmation in the United States. 

Some more good news, 79-year-old Annie Lynch – the first person in the Republic of Ireland to be vaccinated against Covid-19 – today received the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. She expressed her relief at getting her second dose, explaining that she felt no after effects at all.

And finally, today’s zen is a song that unexpectedly become the top-streamed and top-selling song of the week, as well as topping the Billboard global charts, making it the first #1 of 2021. Here’s Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘drivers license’. Enjoy!