The vaccine rollout programme has been running fairly well so far - despite a number of bumps along the way.
One in four adults eligible to be vaccinated have now been offered a jab and there is set to be a further ramping up over the coming few weeks.
But the reopening of the country depends vitally on the rollout plan as any drop in doses could lead to a rise in case numbers once more - and further lockdown.
Ahead of a crucial Cabinet meeting tonight, here's the latest comments from the Taoiseach and Health Minister on Ireland's plan.
Target of four in every five adults by June still on track
Speaking to Shannonside Radio this morning, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin admitted that despite some setbacks, the overall target for Government remains on track.
"The original target was to try to get to 80% first dose by the end of June. Now, obviously, there have been changes to the schedule, there have been delays.
"We’ve lost a number of weeks because of the various advices that have come in from Niac, particularly in relation to AstraZeneca but we’re still pursuing that target, we’re still going after that target.
"The vaccination centres are up and running, with the supplies coming in, and if they can come in without any further hitches, we will have a very robust vaccination programme."
Huge deliveries
Mr Martin added later in the Dáil that the largest vaccine delivery so far arrived into Ireland this morning.
He said: “There was very good news today in terms of Pfizer/BioNTech, I think the largest ever delivery has arrived, 191,800 Pfizer vaccines have arrived. Pfizer had proven to be particularly reliable"
The Taoiseach added that 27.5% of the population have received one dose of vaccine to date and 10.9% have now received a second dose.
“The objective is to get as many people vaccinated as we possibly can and, notwithstanding all of the obstacles that have arisen, to keep close to those targets by the end of June.”
Minister for Health provides figures
Following the comments from the Taoiseach, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly provided the latest figures.
As of Monday 26 April, 1,417,942 doses of vaccine have been administered in Ireland.
Mr Donnelly's update came after a busy 24 hours as he appeared on both Prime Time and Newstalk Breakfast to talk about the rollout
The RTE programme projected that Ireland may need to vaccinate up to 450,000 people a week in the month of June to hit our vaccine targets for the middle of the year.
They also noted that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine - which has been approved for those aged 50 and up only - will only arrive in the country in large batches after the 50-59 age group are scheduled to be vaccinated.
Mr Donnelly said the government would reflect on the situation in a couple of weeks time, depending on what vaccines are available and when Ireland will get them at the time, noting that the situation is very fluid.
