evidence: - 28 September – - SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says there is an urgent "need to act quickly" over the number of cases in the Derry and Strabane areas, which are three times higher than Northern Ireland as a whole.[135] [...] - 6 November – - The number of COVID deaths in Northern Ireland surpasses 1,000, standing at 1,053.[203] [...] - 29 November – - Steve Aiken, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, says that a mass vaccination programme will require the support of the Northern Ireland Executive.[235]