Tanáiste Leo Varadkar has said the government would like to start offering people aged in their 40s appointments for Covid-19 jabs by the end of May.
The Fine Gael leader told the parliamentary party meeting on Wednesday night that the Covid-19 epidemiological situation continues to improve despite the reopening of the economy and society.
Sources said Mr Varadkar said the State hopes we can be at a stage sometime when between 300,000 and 400,000 vaccines can be administered per week.
He told colleagues that he hopes people aged in their 40s could get an appointment for a Covid-19 jab at the end of this month but this is contingent on whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine gets approval to be used for people aged under 50.
Sources said the State is still aiming to meet its target of vaccinating 82% of people with at least one Covid vaccine by the end of June.
However, he warned that a risk could arise whereby a bulk of vaccine doses due in June may not arrive until the last day or week of the month.
Mr Varadkar also told colleagues the government will make an announcement at the end of May in terms of their plans going forward for the pandemic unemployment payment (PUP), and supports for businesses but said nothing has been decided yet.
The country passed a major milestone last week after more than 250,000 Covid-19 vaccines were distributed in a seven day period.
Ireland saw a further 448 Covid-19 cases confirmed this evening while sadly another 8 deaths were reported.
As of 8am today, 109 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 34 are in ICU.
Speaking this week Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn praised Ireland's progress as the rollout of vaccines continues signalling that the end of the pandemic may be near.
He tweeted this morning: "We now have compelling evidence that COVID19 vaccines are very effective in the real world. We can be confident that large-scale deployment over the coming weeks will impact very positively on the number of people getting COVID, ending up in hospital or dying."
"Real world data from Qatar and Israel shows that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are extraordinarily effective (>96%) at preventing severe or fatal #COVID19 disease
"Real world data from Scotland suggests the Pfizer & AZ vaccines are 91% & 88% effective at preventing hospitalisation 4wks after the first dose (it's still very important to get your 2nd dose when it is offered to you)"
