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Additional freedoms will be granted to people once they have been fully vaccinated, the T\u00e1naiste has said.<\/p>\nAdditional freedoms will be granted to people once they have been fully vaccinated, the T\u00e1naiste has said.<\/p>\n
Leo Varadkar has confirmed the Government is developing a \u201cdigital green certificate vaccine pass\u201d for people to prove they have been fully inoculated.<\/p>\n
He said the Government would introduce \u201cadditional measures for the fully vaccinated, more freedoms for those who have been vaccinated\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe are developing a digital green certificate vaccine pass, so you\u2019ll be able to prove that you\u2019re fully vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar made the comments in a video posted to social media on Easter Monday, as he hailed Ireland\u2019s progress in the battle against Covid-19.<\/p>\n
The T\u00e1naiste said Ireland\u2019s vaccination program is set to accelerate in the coming weeks, telling the public: \u201cWe\u2019re going to surprise you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The vaccination rollout in Ireland has been beset by problems, with criticisms over its speed, issues with deliveries from manufacturers and controversy over queue skipping.<\/p>\n
But Friday saw 30,500 doses administered, the single-day record total since the rollout began.<\/p>\n
Ireland is now on course to pass the one million doses mark this week, and Mr Varadkar has promised the rollout will be \u201caccelerated in coming weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cWe anticipate that by the middle of May the majority of adults will have had their first dose, and the over 70s will have been fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd by the end of June the vast, vast majority, more than 80 per cent of people, will have been offered the first dose.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d hope to do even better than that as well and many will have their second dose too. So you know, really the acceleration phase, the ramp up phase is April, May and June.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the addition of the fourth vaccine, the single dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine that gets a little easier still.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know a lot of people might feel that they\u2019re never going to get vaccinated We\u2019re going to surprise you.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I say most adults will have had their first dose by the end of May, that\u2019s not too far away.\u201d<\/p>\n
The more the vaccination program progresses, the more options the Government will have to reopen the country, Mr Varadkar said.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said that if the numbers continue to go in the right direction, the Government will examine the reopening of non-essential retail and personal services such as hairdressers and barbers in May.<\/p>\n
Religious services, contact sports, museums, galleries and libraries will also be \u201cin the mix\u201d by then, he said.<\/p>\n
There were 320 additional confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland on Monday, the Department of Health said.<\/p>\n
There were no deaths linked to the coronavirus in the past 24-hour period for the first time since late December.<\/p>\n
As of April 2, some 923,878 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Ireland.<\/p>\n
In total, 655,292 people have received their first dose and 268,586 people have received their second dose.<\/p>\n