The first vaccinations in Ireland could be administered as early as next week.
Following a number of meetings over the last few days and weeks, the Irish government made their announcement today regarding the future of restrictions across the country.
After a significant rise in Covid-19 case numbers in recent days, An Taoiseach Micheál Martin
addressed the nation this afternoon, stating that the Government have decided upon a new set of Covid-19 restrictions that will start to come into place on Christmas Eve and will run until January 12.
Additionally, An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said there could be 2,000 cases of Covid-19 reported daily by New Year's Eve, if the increased restrictions weren't put in place.
Following up on the question of when the current restrictions might end, Varadkar stated that while they will come under review again on January 12, restrictions are likely to remain in Ireland for at least a few more months:
"It's difficult to speculate about the timeline, but I think it'll probably be towards the end of February or early March before critical mass of the population is vaccinated.
"And I think we need to operate on the basis that these restrictions may well be in place until then. Although we will review the situation on the 12th of January."
The Irish Independent have reported that the first consignment of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for Ireland is expected to arrive as early as Satruday, December 26, with the first vaccinations in the country potentially administered as next week.
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