Less than a million doses of vaccines will be delivered in April, but they will catch up in May and June, Tánaiste says.

Last night 112,000 vaccines arrived in the country, according to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.

Speaking today in the Dáil he said that this delivery means that the goal of receiving 1,187 million doses of the vaccine in the country in the first quarter of this year has been reached.

More than 800,000 vaccinations have been administered, Varadkar said. The government expects to reach one million doses administered by April 7, he said.

Vaccine supplies are increasing, he said, but acknowledged that the country will receive less than the 1 million promised in April.

Last week, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told the Dail that 1.1 million doses were scheduled to be administered over the next four weeks.

Earlier in the Dáil, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said April vaccine doses would be revised downward. Last night, he told his parliamentary party that 860,000 would be handed over in April.

“I would like to get around a million a month until April, May and June, but it will be less than a million in April, more than a million in May and June,” Varadkar said.

“We expect to have the majority of adults vaccinated by the end of May and the vast majority of adults offered their first dose no later than the end of June,” he added.

Varadkar said the good news is that the data that is emerging now shows that the vaccines work in the different variants. Citing the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Varadkar said it also appears from recent data that vaccines prevent transmission, which he said “is really encouraging.”

Varadkar again defended the vaccine plan review this week, stating that the decision was made with public health advice from doctors and scientists from the National Immunization Advisory Committee.

He said that the Opposition was constantly asking the government to listen to the experts, stating during today’s Leaders’ Questions that this is what the government is doing in this case.

Once the most vulnerable and people over 70 have been vaccinated, deployment will be based on age groups and not occupations as previously planned.

“It’s done for very good reasons, and a very good reason is that people in their 50s and 60s are at a much higher risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from Covid than people in their 20s and 30s,” Varadkar said. .

“As someone in their 30s has a 0.2% chance of dying from Covid, someone in their 50s has 1.3%, six times more.

“For a 40 year old it is 0.4%, for a 60 year old it is 3.6%, nine times more.

“There is no group, no profession, other than healthcare workers, that is at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from Covid or dying from Covid, than the average 60-year-old and that is why it makes sense to prioritize 60-year-olds. and more. 50’s.

“One thing that is very advantageous, I think, of moving towards an age-based system is that it is simple. All you need is proof of your date of birth. “