Ireland is exhausting every avenue when it comes to sourcing coronavirus vaccines, according to the Taoiseach.

Micheál Martin was speaking after it emerged the country will receive even less vaccine than expected in the first quarter of the year.

The news has fuelled further calls for the Government to follow the lead of Hungary and Slovakia and buy vaccines outside of the EU Advance Purchase Agreement.

Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Taoiseach Micheál Martin claimed Ireland was not in a position to source vaccines outside the agreement.

“There is no magic tree out there that we can pick vaccines off,” he said.

“That is an illusion. I spoke to the UK Prime Minister; we talked about vaccines and he volunteered to me that he would love to help Ireland but his first priority is to get his entire people vaccinated.

“That is what he said. Yet you have people jumping up and down saying, ‘oh we should ask Boris Johnson if he is going to give us surplus’ – he doesn’t have surplus vaccines.”

Vaccine administration figures Ireland. Image: Department of Health

As of Sunday, Ireland had administered a total of 525,768 vaccine doses – with over 375,500 people having received one dose and over 150,000 fully vaccinated.

It means just under 11% of the population has received a jab, compared to 31.5% in the North and 32.9% in the UK.

On The Pat Kenny Show this morning, the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said Ireland had opted in to the full European Union allocation and top-up schemes – and would eventually receive around 18.5 million doses.

He rejected the idea that other countries would sell Ireland vaccines – claiming it “doesn’t hold up.”

The European Commission this morning confirmed Ireland would get 46,500 more Pfizer vaccines than expected this month.