IRELAND WON’T be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 until the end of the year, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin has warned.
Though the Fianna Fail leader expects to reach a “critical mass” of jabs against the coronavirus before then, the previous target of September for the whole country would not be reached.
He told the Irish Examiner: "I can't say it'll be the entire population over 18 at that stage. I think we'll be well on the road.
"I would envisage end of year will be the target. But again, that's subject to all the caveats.”
Ireland will also miss its vaccination target for March after AstraZeneca said it would only be able to deliver 31 million of the expected 80 million vaccine doses ordered by the European Union.
The EU has ordered 300 million doses of the vaccine with 600,000 due to go to Ireland by the end of March. That figure has now been revised down to 190,000 doses in February and 95,000 in March.
Covid-19 vaccineDespite the disappointing news concerning the AstraZeneca jab, there is more positive developments on the horizon with two new vaccines looking likely to arrive in the coming months.
A one-shot Johnson & Johnson jab has proved 66% effective in third stage clinical trials and was noted for preventing all hospitalisations and death from the virus.
Another vaccine from U.S. biotech firm Novavax has also produced positive results in clinical trials which found it was 89% effective against the virus and, crucially, can be stored and transported in regular refrigerated temperatures for up to three months.
