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The Government has admitted that the National Vaccination Program is the only possibility the country has to return to normality one year after the pandemic.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin pinned his hopes on the vaccine launch when he published a new plan to “control the virus” after ditching his original strategy of living with the virus.
Launch of the plan, called ‘Covid-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 – The way forward ”, Mr. Martin said that“ the end is really in sight, ”but added that the vaccine program must be accelerated before the country can reopen.
“The vaccination program will completely change the landscape and transform the options we have as a society to reopen and renew our country,” he said.
Speaking at the same event, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn called the vaccine “our most powerful tool” in fighting the virus, adding: “There are brighter days ahead.”
Reports that the EU would receive only half of its planned supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the second quarter of the year seemed to overshadow the launch.
However, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly insisted that the shortage had been included in the government’s goal of having 60% of the country’s adults fully vaccinated by the end of June.
82% of all adults are expected to have received their first vaccination on the same date.
The new plan was launched after the Cabinet agreed to extend Level 5 restrictions through April 5, while gradually reopening schools and childcare. About 320,000 students will return to school on March 1, including third and fourth year infants, first and second class, and Leaving Cert students.
This will be reviewed by Nphet in two weeks and then may lead to the rest of the elementary school classes and the fifth year middle school students returning to school on March 15th.
Another review of the schools will take place on April 12, and if there are no concerns about the spread of the virus, all other classes can return.
Child care will gradually return on March 8, and the state’s early care and education preschool program will resume first.
By March 29, all child care services are expected to return if transmission of the virus is under control.
The commercial supports and the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will run until the end of June, under the new Covid plan.
A review of general coronavirus restrictions will take place in March ahead of plans to ease them on April 5.
However, the government will only consider lifting the 5km travel ban and will not allow movement between counties for the next two months.
You can also allow small groups of people to get together outside and do some sporting activity. However, the government did not provide details on what will be allowed.
Then another review will take place in April before restrictions are likely to be relaxed further in May.
Construction is expected to return in April, but the building ban will remain in place next month even though Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said he expected to return on March 5.
The plan was described yesterday as a “wet squib” and “disappointing” by several high-level government sources.
Tourism Minister Catherine Martin expressed concern in Cabinet that the plan did not go far enough for sectors that are still closed due to government restrictions.
Ms. Martin told Cabinet that sectors, especially those under her mandate, were waiting for a roadmap out of the lockdown and may not believe that the new plan contains one.
The president of the Irish Hotel Federation, Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, called for more support for her industry, saying that not doing so will have “ramifications for the future of Ireland’s tourism offering and for the economy that could take decades to resolve.”
Irish Restaurant Association Executive Director Adrian Cummins criticized the lack of details on when the hotel industry could reopen.
“If we are all in this together, why are we? Are the public, companies and employees not informed of the sector reopening plan? ”Mr. Cummins said.
Labor Party leader Alan Kelly also said the plan lacked “clear metrics and targets” to ease restrictions and “relies too heavily on the implementation of vaccination.” “This is more of the same, with a reliance on continued shutdowns until vaccines reach a sufficient number of the population,” Kelly said.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald criticized the government for the delay in introducing a mandatory quarantine program. “People are being told that they cannot travel within 5 km of their home and the government still has a very reckless approach to international travel through our airports and ports,” he said.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly withdrew from an appearance on RTÉ Stellar hour. The move came after he faced criticism for comments he made about the schools reopening Monday night on RTÉ. His spokesman said he had to focus on the vaccination program.
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