Stephen Donnelly gives update on vaccine rollout and possible return of concerts irishmirror.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irishmirror.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
LIVE Covid Ireland cases and deaths today - updates from NPHET on vaccine
All the latest on vaccines, the Covid situation in Ireland and what to expect on April 8
A sign showing two metres social distancing inside St Stephen s Green Park. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto) Welcome to our Covid-19 live blog with all the very latest updates on the pandemic in Ireland and the rest of the world.
The Department of Health is set to announce provide the country with its latest update on the number of new cases and deaths related to Covid.
Aside from this, NPHET is also set to meet today to discuss the latest findings from the European Medicines Agency regarding the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Covid-19: Seven further deaths and 400 new cases reported by Nphet irishtimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irishtimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
It was probably inevitable but vaccines have quickly become one of the most divisive issues of the pandemic to date.
Perhaps surprisingly though it is not the, so called, anti vaxxers who have made the roll-out of the various vaccines a political hot potato. Rather it is the sheer demand for the jab that is posing the most difficulty for the Government as it tries to ramp up its woefully slow vaccination programme.
Given the dismal year we have all endured - and with many more months of restrictions to come - it is no surprise that the vaccine, and with it the hope of freedom, is so sought after.
Prime Time
Taoiseach Micheál Martin set out the aims of the vaccine roll-out during one of those pandemic-era national addresses we ve become all too familiar with. It was 23 February, and he needed to garner public support for extending Level 5 restrictions.
By the end of June, he said, at least 55% of adults should be fully vaccinated. Some 82% should have received their first jab.
He also said that 1.25 million doses would have been administered by 31 March.
If it wasn’t clear before he spoke, it certainly was after: the Government views vaccination as the way out of the pandemic.
But the roll-out has been plagued by issues, from delayed AstraZeneca shipments to the Beacon Hospital debacle.