A top medical expert has reassured people that the Covid-19 vaccines weren't rushed.
But it comes with a warning that all public health measures must still be followed in order for the vaccine to work effectively in the community.
The news follows on from Taoiseach Micheal Martin confirming that Government would front the cost of the vaccine roll-out, meaning it will be free for the public.
Speaking about the making of the revolutionary doses, Dr Margaret Harris of the World Health Organisation said: "It wasn't rushed because the science that was needed had actually been done before this outbreak.
"Much of the knowledge came from SARS and MERS, so as a race, we're actually getting pretty good at making the most of what we're learning.
"As for the regulators, they too have been doing the work prior to actually seeing the final data, so they were ready to review it very quickly.
"So all the things that take a long time in normal times because they've got to have meetings scheduled two months in advance, and some things are done more slowly have been sped up, but corners haven't been cut."
Speaking about the storage of the vaccines, which need to be kept at a freezing -79C, Dr Harris added: "This is something we in the world actually have experience of, because of the Ebola vaccine that we've used in conflict zones and some very very difficult parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and New Guinea and in Sierra Leone, that is one that also has to be stored at -79C and I can tell you as someone who's done it myself that it's not easy.
"But you can do it and you can set up that chain and can make it work."
And she warned that despite the major positive news that vaccines will be available in the new year, Dr Harris said that public health measures must be followed to ensure it works effectively.
She told RTE's Morning Ireland: "You've got your doctors, then the people who rush in and want it at all cost, and also those who don't understand that most of them will be a two dose regime.
"It's not like; 'Oh, I've got the vaccine, everything is good'. No. What matters is what's happening in your body. Do you have the antibodies that protect you from the virus? We know that you need the second dose in many of these regimes to ensure that protection.
"At all levels, it's very important now that we get that information out and ensuring that your listeners have all the information they need, to be doing all the things they need to protect their health.
"And the last thing I would say is that we have to keep with the public health measures. The less virus there is in the community, the more effective the vaccine will be. "
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Health Minister Stephen Donnelly have both committed to covering the cost of the life-saving vaccines when they are rolled out.
Mr Martin was speaking at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday night when he confirmed that a free programme is planned.
Mr Donnelly indicated the same at an Oireachtas health committee earlier in the day, but he stopped short of declaring they would be free, because it hasn’t been approved by Cabinet yet.
Mr Donnelly said: “We can’t have any situation where there could be any question of access being a problem because of affordability.”
However, Mr Martin went further at the Fianna Fáil private party meeting under questioning from his own TDs, Senators and MEPs when he said there would be “no cost for the vaccines.”
It is estimated that the cost of the first wave of vaccinations will cost the Exchequer in the region of €200million.
