Important to rollout Covid vaccines 'properly', says Varadkar
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The Tánaiste said the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines will be slower here than other countries as it is important to "do it right".
Leo Varadkar said the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine will begin "in earnest" from Wednesday staring with 10,000 doses and increasing to around 40,000 doses each week. He said this does not include other vaccines which are also due to come on stream in the coming weeks and months.
Mr Varadkar warned that restrictions will remain in place for a "long period" until the most vulnerable groups are vaccinated.
Asked why there had been a delay between the date the first batch of vaccines arrived here and the rollout, Mr Varadkar said: "I'm not 100% sure, actually. What I have been told that it just takes a couple of days to organise things."
He said: "While he could have done a few people in the initial days, the authorities thought it was better to start on Wednesday and start it properly.
"I think we will probably start a bit slower but catch up. I don't see it as a race, I think it's important that we do it right."
His comments come as HSE chief Paul Reid warned of an 'alarming' number of Covid-19 tests being carried out in the country, adding the community positivity rate is now around 10%.
Mr Varadkar said the Cabinet had already gone against NPHET's recommendation in the decision not to close non-essential retail, however, he said everything would be reviewed when ministers meet again on Tuesday.
Noting the fact that almost 1,300 new cases were recorded last night, Mr Varadkar said: "Nobody anticipated that numbers would rise so quickly."
He said the Government expects cases to continue to rise until early in the New Year as there is generally a 10 to 14 day lag before the impact of restrictions are seen.
"Whatever restrictions we have in place now are going to be there for a prolonged period."
He told Newstalk's On the Record show: "Now we have the vaccine that is being provided to those who need the most - healthcare workers and the medically vulnerable - to me it makes sense that we should not ease restrictions until we've got to the point where we have all those people vaccinated.
"So, when you're putting something in place for a prolonged period you need to bear that in mind too.
"I don't think we'll be getting rid of the restrictions permanently in February or March, restrictions, such as mass gatherings, for example, I don't see them happening until the summer at the earliest," he said.