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The government’s decision to review the Covid-19 vaccine allocation has sparked anger and concern as the cabinet agreed to begin easing lockdown restrictions from mid-April.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet agreed to the first general easing of Covid-19 restrictions since the state entered Level 5 last December. Effective April 12, the 5 km travel restriction will be removed so that people can travel within their own county or within 20 km of their home if they cross county lines.
Main points – What the Cabinet has decided today:
From April 12
- 5 km travel limit extended countywide and within a 20 km radius
- Partial return to construction from mid-April
From April 19
- GAA County Senior Training Resumes
From April 26
- Golf and tennis can be resumed
- Zoos and heritage sites to open
- Outdoor training for under 18s to resume
- Funeral attendance will increase to 25
May
- Museums and galleries to start reopening
- Click and collect retail services to resume
- Hairdressers to resume
Two homes will be allowed to meet outdoors, more than 14,000 construction workers involved in home construction will return to employment, and there will be a full return to school for the children left in high school.
The national vaccination program will be changed to an age-based system, once people aged 70 years and over, vulnerable people and people with underlying diseases are vaccinated.
The National Organization of Teachers of Ireland (INTO), which represents primary school teachers, said it would seek an emergency meeting with the Department of Education “to vigorously protest any decline of our profession on the vaccination list.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the measure would simplify and speed up the vaccination program.
“There are many, many genuine and justifiable arguments that can be made regarding many professions, if we are honest, but we want to make sure that we can implement vaccines as quickly as possible so that we can get more protection for those who need it most.” , He said.
Mr. Martin also said that about three million doses of vaccines will be administered by the end of May, reaching almost five million doses in early July and six million doses by the end of that month.
“We are in the final leg of this terrible journey,” Martin said, adding that businesses and utilities will reopen safely by the summer.
It occurs when the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) warned the Government in a letter that the country is in a “precarious” place in relation to the prevalence of Covid-19.
In a letter to the government, Acting Medical Director Ronan Glynn said the level of infection is “substantially higher than when restrictions were eased after previous waves of infections, roughly double the number in early December 2020 and 50 times higher. than at the end of June “. 2020. “
The team also cautioned that the predominance of the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant means that “for similar levels of close social contact, viral transmissions and the number of effective reproduction … will be between 30 and 70 percent more. than in 2020 “.
The reproductive number is already 1 or more, they warned.
“The high starting point of 600 cases per day means that the number of cases rapidly increases to more than 2000 per day in 4 weeks.”
“Unfortunately, the significant ‘leeway’ that was available last summer when case counts were very low is not available now, and any increase in transmission will have significant impacts in a short space of time,” the team warned. Government.
Nphet’s new model also suggests that vaccines will rapidly and significantly reduce risk in a short period of time from May 2021 to August 2021. The model shows that vaccines will reduce mortality when those over 70 are fully protected, but they will have a lesser effect on the hospital. and the numbers of critical care in the general population are vaccinated.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach also announced Tuesday that the government will examine the possible reopening of shops and hair salons in May at the end of April. Then, at the end of May, the ministers will assess whether the reopening of hotels, B & Bs and guest houses will be possible next June.
The Government has also announced that now two people who are fully vaccinated can meet indoors, provided that fifteen days or more have elapsed since they received their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that shifting the focus from vaccination categories by age cohorts was a deference to the evidence.
“We’re going with science and we’re going with medicine on this,” he said. “If you look at this from a scientific point of view… let’s say you have a 35-year-old Garda or a 35-year-old teacher; Are they more or less at risk than a 60-year-old factory worker or a 60-year-old retail worker? In reality, it is the 60-year-old man who is most at risk. “
However, he downplayed the idea that Covid-19 variants, in particular the so-called Brazilian variant, could ruin the restrictions easing plans put in place by the Taoiseach.
“One of the concerns we have about the variants is that they may be resistant to vaccines and that is a real concern. But the growing evidence, certainly in relation to mRNA vaccines, is that they are effective, ”he said, adding that this was recent information.
“The dominant variant here in Ireland at the moment is variant B117, which is very transmissible and that is perhaps one of the reasons why the other variants have not grown that much.”
He also said whether or not the United States, France and Germany would be added to a list of countries from where arrivals should be quarantined for hotels “under consideration.”
“We need to figure some things out,” he said on RTÉ’s Prime Time Tuesday night. “Do we have hotels for example? What is the exit strategy? Some of the countries are in the EU, so there are problems related to free movement that we need to solve. “
Meanwhile, a group of experts convened by the Government recommended the widespread use of rapid antigen tests, including the possibility of a mass implementation in schools by September this year, although the group was divided on the role of such tests in the reopening of society and economy.
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