Paul Reid has urged the public to "stick with us" after a controversial week saw lots of confusion about the guidelines for Ireland's reopening.
A hectic week saw the Attorney General forced to issue advice to the Government that regulations allowed for outdoor events and gatherings for up to 200 people.
This ruling came in the wake of the news that former Minister Katherine Zappone had organised a gathering of 50 friends and colleagues at the Merrion Hotel, a few days before being appointed as UN Special Envoy on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, a role she later turned down.
It has led to calls from the hospitality sector for clear guidelines, as well of accusations against Leo Varadkar of "hiding" from questions after it was revealed he attended the Zappone event.
When asked about the confusion at the weekly HSE Covid-19 briefing on Thursday, Paul Reid noted that the public needed to stay alert.
He said: "The only concern we have is people just drop their guard over the next few weeks, whether it's over frustration or confusion.
"People drop their guard. So the message from the HSE... people stick with us, in a few weeks' time we will be on a much better side of this pandemic.
"My call is to the public: don't get confused, don't get frustrated, just stick with what we're doing, it's working and allow us to get on with the vaccination programme," he concluded
Varadkar issued a statement confirming he had attended Ms Zappone’s event for 45 minutes but was “confident” that he did not breach any guidelines.
He said he checked with hotel management and Ms Zappone that they were both adhering to Covid rules.
However, Sinn Féin's Matt Carthy has accused the Government of throwing public health guidelines "out the window" and changing Covid guidelines to "retrospectively approve the attendance of Tánaiste at an event.
.
