Minister for Health Stephen Donnely has stressed the importance of increasing the number of vaccinations being administered to the Irish public as a means of lifting the lockdown restrictions that were extended yesterday.
During an interview with Clare Byrne on RTE, Donnelly was asked to elaborate on the Government's longterm plan for dealing with Covid-19.
Minister Donnelly reaffirmed his belief that the entire country will be vaccinated by September, however, during the conversation, Byrne said that this target is "probably unlikely."
At this point, the RTE host said: "What happens between March and the point where everyone is vaccinated, whenever that may be? Opening up, closing down, opening up, closing down. That seems to be the plan, there's nothing else" she said.
Minister Donnelly said: "Well, the nature of the virus is that as you open up, it begins to spread again. We're vaccinating as we've discussed and as we get to the higher-risk people, the total risk of hospitalisation and serious illness or death goes down reasonably quickly as healthier people are left to be vaccinated.
He adds: "We've brought in very serious border controls and quarantining. We'll be looking at an all-Island approach and possibly a two-island approach as well. Between using the domestic measures to suppress the virus, having very tight border controls and vaccinating, that essentially is the plan.
"Then we've got to open up gradually, open up the priorities - get the healthcare system back up and running again, get schools and colleges open, and people back to work. But we're going to have to do this in a careful way.
"It can't be a case of when March 6 arrives, everything opens again and everyone socialises and mixes - that would lead to another surge."
Donnelly reiterated the need to stick to the current guidelines in place and stressed that the best way to help Ireland's beleaguered hospital services is to stay at home.
Minister Donnelly added that "the vaccines are "highly effective" but warned that "we're particularly worried about the South African and Brazilian variants at the moment."
