Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said he believes there will be a domestic tourist season this summer and that he is still hopeful vaccination timelines can be met.
He also said services such as hairdressers may not reopen until late April or May at the earliest.
The Fine Gael leader said Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine would not be a game-changer for Ireland and poured cold water on suggestions from within his party that restrictions on the number of people at funerals should be eased.
Hospital Report
Mr Varadkar said it is still the Government’s plan to have 80 per cent of adults vaccinated by the end of June and everyone over 16 offered the jabs by the end of September.
He told Newstalk Breakfast: “there has been some slippage – that’s the truth. There’s no denying that and people are aware of that.”
But he said: “There may come a point when we wake up one day and AstraZeneca tell us that their plants are ramping up and they’ve more vaccines coming in from the plant in India or somewhere else so we may see the whole thing being accelerated, so I’m still hopeful that we can meet those meet those timelines.”
When asked about the possibility of an easing of restrictions for those already vaccinated, Mr Varadkar said he would like to research where such measures were being allowed, but that at present the position of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control was it would be too high a risk and not enough people had yet been vaccinated.
Although the vaccine offered protection against hospitalisation and death, people could possibly still transmit the virus, he warned.
Asked about the possibility of international travel, Mr Varadkar said it would depend on the data but added: “long before we’re traveling overseas for non-essential reasons, we’ll have mandatory quarantine up and running. So, initially [it] is actually more restrictions not less on foreign travel anyway.
“I do think that there will be a domestic tourist season this summer like there was last summer.”
Sputnik V
He said use of the Sputnik V vaccine is a possibility for Ireland, adding the data for it is “as good as the Pfizer vaccine” and that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is doing a rolling review so it may be authorised in the EU.
But he said: “despite what you might see from news flashes around the world, the pandemic is very bad in Russia at the moment – they haven’t vaccinated much of their own population.
“While they are giving some of their allies some vaccines. It’s not going to be a game changer for us.”
The Tánaiste said that four vaccines will be authorised for use here by the end of the day once the Johnson & Johnson version gets EMA approval and others will be authorised in the months ahead.
“There will come a point where we have lots of vaccines, but it’s not just yet; it’ll be probably sometime in April or May,” Mr Varadkar said.
Asked about calls from within his own party for the limit on the number of people attending funerals to be eased Mr Varadkar said there’s “huge sympathy with people who are making very difficult decisions around funerals” in terms of which ten people can attend.
“It’s extremely difficult and one of the horrible things about this pandemic is the way it’s not allowed us to grieve and grieve in a way that we would have done normally, all our lives.”
But he said: “Again, you know the message from me, from the Taoiseach, from the Government, from Nphet is very clear. We’re not going to ease any restrictions this side of April 5th” no matter how many people have been vaccinated.
“We don’t want to move too far and then to fall backwards. It’s going to be a step-by-step slow reopening,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.
“Once you start down that road there’s six other suggestions,” Mr Varadkar said, adding there were other things mentioned at Fine Gael’s meeting last night like golf and church services at Easter.
Mr Varadkar said: “It does create a whole thing called anticipatory behaviour, and it sends out the message that things are fine now, and it’s human nature to do a little bit more than is actually allowed.
“And that’s how we could end up on the wrong track again, and we’re just not willing to risk that not while there is still people over 70 not vaccinated and still people who are vulnerable to Covid not vaccinated.”
When asked about the reopening of services such as hairdressers, along with the opening of golf courses and religious services, Mr Varadkar said he had to be careful about what he said as he did not want to be accused of kite flying. All decisions would have to be data driven.
The Tánaiste was hopeful that some activities such as training (for sport) could return after April 5th, but there might need to be rules about the level of contact.
Significant restrictions
Significant restrictions are set to remain in place until the second half of May, with Government sources downplaying the chances of any major relaxation of lockdown next month.
Senior Government figures have poured cold water on the suggestion that wider relaxations could be on the cards.
Nonetheless, senior sources said some changes around visitation for nursing homes would be considered for April 5th – if key advice from public health experts supported such a call. Nphet will meet on Thursday to discuss visitations.
Coalition figures warned the situation is finely balanced, and that while “we hopefully will be on course” to extend the 5km limit, reopen construction and broaden the scope of outdoor activities, one big outbreak could destabilise matters.
One source said the Government would adopt a “minimalist approach” for the next six-week plan, which will last until May 23rd, and would not bow to sectoral interests. They said it was important not to raise expectations of changes that would not occur, or for the mixed messages that preceded the current plan to be repeated.
