Ireland is on track to vaccinate more than four million people against the coronavirus by the end of September, according to the Health Minister.
In a letter to TDs last night, Stephen Donnelly said 700,000 people should be vaccinated before April.
He said a further 7.5 million doses should the arrive in Ireland between April and October.
This would allow for the vaccination of 4.2 million people by October.
“We expect to receive approximately 3.7 million does from April to the end of June and 3.8 million between July and the end of September,” he wrote.
“It is important to stress that our projections and timelines are constantly evolving as more vaccines are approved and delivery schedules finalised.”
Minister Donnelly said the second phase of the rollout would make use of GPs, Pharmacists and Mass Vaccination centres and noted that the rollout will be “limited only by supply.”
It comes amid calls for Ireland to purchase vaccines direct from manufacturers to add to the ‘trickle’ arriving as part of the EU agreement.
Germany has confirmed plans to buy an extra 30 million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer jab to complement the 64 million it is receiving under the EU deal.
It is also buying vaccines that other EU countries have not taken up under the scheme, with France and Denmark outlining similar plans.
Infectious Disease Professor Jack Lambert told Newstalk it will take the country “years to get back to normal” under the current vaccination plan.
He said the country should be looking to purchase vaccines “from wherever we can” over the coming months.
