The latest setbacks to the State vaccination programme will be discussed by ministers at Cabinet this morning.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach is to be briefed by the HSE and the vaccines taskforce as work continues on redrawing the roll-out plan.
Re-drawn plans to take account of the problems with the availability of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines could be ready as early as today; however, senior figures in the Department of Health were not expecting them to be finalised by the time Cabinet meets at 10am.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin will be briefed by the HSE and the head of the vaccine taskforce Brian MacCraith, following on from discussions they had with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly last night.
There is now an anxiousness among some Cabinet ministers over what the pause in Johnson & Johnson delivery will mean if it becomes a long-term issue – though as just 41,000 doses were due to arrive this month there are hopes the time could be made up.
Minister Donnelly has also said that everyone that saw their AstraZeneca vaccine appointment cancelled this week will know where they stand in the coming days.
Cabinet will also discuss the suspension of bookings for mandatory hotel quarantine.
The “temporary pause” announced last night is due to a lack of capacity at designated hotels.
The issue was well-flagged as potential problem by some ministers and the news could inflame tensions at the Cabinet table again.
Meanwhile, Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath will present Cabinet with a Stability Programme Update – setting out the big picture financial cost of COVID.
The document will forecast GDP growth of 4.5% this year and 5% next year; however, Modified Domestic Demand, a metric the government sees as more reflective of the actual economy, projects a 2.5% growth this year and a jump to 7.5% growth in 2022.
The update will note that the rebound depends on the imperilled vaccine roll-out and it will also contain a downside scenario, setting out what might happen if restrictions stay in place longer than planned.
