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Meeting RESTRICTIONS will be in effect for at least the next three months and probably six, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said in a private Fine Gael meeting.
r Varadkar told his parliamentary party tonight that expectations around the imminent launch of the Covid-19 vaccine should be tempered.
He said it will be the second quarter of next year before the impact of a vaccination program is seen, noting that most vaccines require two doses with a month between the first and the second.
He warned his colleagues that the first months of next year will be difficult and, according to four sources at the meeting, said the meeting restrictions will be in place for at least the next three months and probably more like six.
Varadkar said he was optimistic that by the spring or summer of next year a critical mass of the population will be vaccinated.
He told his colleagues that the increase in the number of cases in the Republic was cause for concern, but said there was no suggestion to re-impose restrictions on this side of Christmas.
He said that the situation in Northern Ireland was not good and had not been for a long time.
The Northern Ireland Executive is expected to decide on Thursday the timing and extent of the additional restrictions to be imposed after a five-day relaxation over Christmas.
The North recorded eight more Covid-19-related deaths and 510 positive tests on Wednesday.
Varadkar told his party that North’s incidence rate is four times that of the Republic and that its number of new cases is equivalent to 1,500 in the south.
He said the government was ready to provide whatever support the North requested.
At a parliamentary party meeting last month, Varadkar raised the possibility that the government would discourage all non-essential travel to Northern Ireland, but later scrapped any total travel ban.
The National Public Health Emergency Team, meeting today, advised against all non-essential travel to and from the North on Nov. 26. The Government does not plan to implement this council at present despite the worsening situation in the North.
Restrictions on people leaving their county will be relaxed from Friday to January 6 and a government source confirmed that as part of this, people will still be able to travel freely across the border to and from Northern Ireland.
It is understood that the North has not made any requests for assistance to the southern health authorities, including the possible transfer of Covid patients from Northern Ireland hospitals.
A Donnelly spokesman said the minister and his northern counterpart, Robin Swann, had spoken on Wednesday.
“Both ministers are looking forward to the plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council to be held via videoconference on Friday,” the spokesman said.
“As Minister Donnelly said today, if the Northern Ireland Executive requested support for health care capacity, of course it would be provided.
“Such support would be very much in line with the current close relationship between the North and the South on COVID-19, as well as the many successful cross-border and island-wide healthcare initiatives.”
Speaking at the Dáil on Wednesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “There are political sensitivities here. It’s unfortunate that we haven’t had a full line-up for the last few months, but that’s the way it is. “
He said border counties in particular are a “concern” for the government. “The numbers are higher in our border counties than in the rest of the country. We are considering how we can provide greater support and protection and the actions we have to take in the border counties, ”he said.
A senior government source said Northern Ireland would be “a red zone if it were a foreign country” but acknowledged that this was not practical and pointed to “political sensitivities”.
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