Taoiseach Says He Won’t Skip the Line for Covid-19 Vaccine

THE TAOISEACH has said it will not skip the line to receive a Covid-19 vaccine before the end of this year.

Under the government’s Covid-19 vaccination strategy, residents over 65 in long-term residential care facilities and healthcare workers with direct patient contact will be the first to receive the vaccine.

Speaking this morning on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne show, Martin said he would “have no problem” with being vaccinated in public, but that he will wait his turn.

“The only problem is that I want to be in sequence, I believe in following the guidance of those who are advising on immunization and that we will do it in order,” he said.

The advice is that any vaccine available now must go to someone who needs it to survive or who needs it to avoid serious illness. And given the fact that we have low volumes at the end of this month, I think I should go to someone who really needs it more than I need it.

The first vaccines in Ireland will be administered on December 30. The cabinet has been told that about 10,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine are expected to be delivered before Christmas.

The government announced new restrictions yesterday, some of which began on Christmas Eve. Gastronomic restaurants and pubs and personal services such as the hairdresser must close as of December 24. Starting December 27, home visits will be reduced from two households to just one and inter-county travel will be restricted.

Following the announcement, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said it will probably be spring before the strict restrictions can begin to be lifted. Martin said large-scale vaccination will allow the government to ease restrictions.

He said that until there is “a critical mass of the vaccinated population,” it will not be possible to significantly relax the measures.

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