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Taoiseach Micheal Martin last appeared on RTE’s Prime Time and gave viewers a welcome update on when they expect lockdown restrictions to finally be lifted and life to return to normal.
Micheal said the launch of the vaccine will play an important role in bringing life back to a kind of normalcy, and said the country will look very different by the middle of the year.
Speaking to Fran McNulty on RTE’s Prime Time program, Micheal said, “Of course there is hope.”
“The vaccination program is being implemented and has been effective to date. We have achieved our goals in terms of vaccination that must be recognized.
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“The variant is a problem and in terms of the variant and the mutation of the virus we have to look at it differently in terms of how we handle that.”
“What we can tell people in terms of launching the vaccination, that will happen.
“And it offers hope that by the middle of the year we will certainly be in a different space and landscape.
“What I would tell people is this, they have been fantastic responding to Level 5 and the numbers are going down.
“We have to stick with it, lower the numbers by March 5 and with vaccines it is worth fighting for now.”
Last night saw 75 additional deaths and 1,318 more confirmed cases.
Dr. Tony Holohan, Medical Director of the Department of Health, said: “We know that those over the age of 70 have suffered the greatest burden of death and serious illness from COVID-19. Ireland is now in a good position; we can now offer highly effective and safe vaccines to this cohort ”.
“The superior efficacy demonstrated by the mRNA vaccines licensed for use in Ireland, Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna means that mRNA vaccines are the appropriate vaccine to provide the highest level of protection available for those over 70 years of age.”
“In the coming weeks, we will see many more of our vulnerable loved ones receive their COVID-19 vaccinations. This is good news and gives us all great hope.
“However, even if you have received your COVID-19 vaccine, you should continue to wash your hands, cover your face, maintain a social distance, and keep your close contacts to a minimum. Until we are all vaccinated, we must act as if none of us have been vaccinated “.
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