Ireland's plan for the delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine is set to be presented to the Government by the end of next week.
The second meeting of the High-Level Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccination held its second meeting today.
Among its members are the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, CEO of the HSE Paul Reid and CEO of IDA Ireland Martin Shanahan. It is chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith.
Speaking at the latest NPHET update at the Department of Health today, Dr Holohan said the plan should be introduced to the Government by the end of next week, December 11.
But Dr Holohan wouldn't reveal much about what was discussed during the meeting today, but confirmed that the task force was on track to deliver the plan to Government.
The rollout of coronavirus vaccines could begin early in the new year, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said.
He said: "Potentially early in the new year we could be looking at things. Brian MacCraith and his team are obviously very quickly putting in place the distribution needed for that.
"I'd say December is unlikely to be honest with you, but quite soon."
Moderna has announced the results from its Phase 3 trial, which suggest its vaccine is 94.1% effective against coronavirus, and 100% effective against severe infections.
Best of all, the vaccine was found to be effective across all age groups, genders and ethnicities.
Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, said: “This positive primary analysis confirms the ability of our vaccine to prevent COVID-19 disease with 94.1% efficacy and importantly, the ability to prevent severe COVID-19 disease.
"We believe that our vaccine will provide a new and powerful tool that may change the course of this pandemic and help prevent severe disease, hospitalizations and death."
The results come from Moderna's Phase 3 study, which enrolled more than 30,000 participants in the US.
They found that there were 196 cases of Covid-19 across the trial group - 185 of which were in those taking the placebo, and 11 of which were given the vaccine.
