Ireland has now delivered half a million coronavirus shots.
Taieach, Micheál Martin, hailed Ireland’s progress on the pandemic, tweeting on Saturday afternoon that it had been informed by the health service executive that the country had exceeded half a million.
Speaking earlier in a video posted on TwitterMartin said he was inspired by recent visits to vaccination centers, where thousands of health care workers received the vaccination.
He said the government and the HSE are doing everything they can to secure supplies and deliver vaccines to people as soon as possible.
Ireland’s first coronavirus vaccine was given to a woman in Dublin, Annie Lynch, on December 29.
“Next week we will start vaccinating those with underlying health conditions, and continue to vaccinate over-70s health workers,” said Martin.
Taoiseach said vaccines reduce the impact of the virus, adding: “This can be seen in the low levels of infection in our nursing homes and among our healthcare workers.
“This brings hope, along with the continuous decline in the number of Covid, thanks to the sacrifices you have made.
“The incidence level of 14 days [of confirmed cases per 100,000 population] fell below 200 this week for the first time at Christmas. While our health services are still under pressure, the number of patients in hospitals and intensive care units is significantly reduced. ”
However, he added a note of caution, warning that variants of the virus mean that people should not relax in compliance with the restrictions.
On Saturday, the number of intensive care patients in Ireland with Covid-19 fell to 101, with 414 hospital cases.
Paul Reid, HSE’s executive director, described it as a “big sign”.
On Friday, another nine deaths from the virus and 522 new cases were recorded in Ireland.
Covid case schedule from Ireland
A peaceful demonstration against the blockade took place in Cork on Saturday.
A similar event in Dublin ended last week with violent scenes, with 23 people arrested and three guards injured.
There was a heavy police presence in Cork and some shops popped up in shop windows, while an estimated crowd of several hundred gathered on St Patrick’s Street.
There have been requests to cancel the event, including by the city’s mayor, Joe Kavanagh, and government minister Simon Coveney.
The organizers of the demonstration, the People’s Convention, said it would be a “peaceful assembly”.