Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said that while there will be another wave of Covid-19 infections, it will be different to the last one.
Speaking on Saturday the Taoiseach said that the country is still facing a race between the vaccines and the more transmissible Delta variant as the vaccine rollout continues to ramp up
Mr Martin told reporters: "Every phase of the pandemic is different. If you look at last summer for example and the type of activities that we could or could not do and compare it to this summer it's significantly different.
"Delta does present a challenge. The interesting issue will be the link between volume of cases and hospitalisation," he said.
"We are concerned about it, but that said, we have significant numbers of the population vaccinated, we are going to accelerate that in the coming month, it is a race between the vaccines and the virus.
"There will be a wave, but it will be different in its impact than previous waves."
Mr Martin refused to be drawn on the measures to be taken towards reopening indoor dining, adding that the Government would engage with the representative bodies for the sector to work out what was the most safe and effective way to reopen indoor service amid the Delta variant.
When asked if such a Covid-19 Green cert could be applied to indoor dining, he said: "It's far too early to say whether that would be applied to the domestic situation."
Almost half of Irish adults are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said.
New figures released on Saturday show that 48% of adults, 1.8 million people, have now received two doses of the vaccine, while another 68%, 2.56 million, have had their first dose.
Speaking earlier in the day Mr Martin said that Covid’s fourth wave will hit Ireland before the end of the month.
He warned: “Delta is real, there will be a Delta wave,” as he indicated it is almost upon us, adding: “towards the latter part of July, and maybe sooner, we will begin to see numbers increase.”
He said the NPHET warnings of up to 2,000 deaths from this wave was what prompted the Government to cancel the reopening of indoor eating and drinking next week.
The race between the variant and vaccines is now at a crucial stage and Mr Martin said: “The challenge for us is to build up that wall against Covid as quickly as we can."
