Irish pharma chief: Covid-19 vaccine 'to transform economy by the spring' 

Cathal Friel, executive chairman of pharmaceutical services firm Open Orphan, said economic restrictions will “by and large” be lifted by early summer because there will be a number of vaccines developed for the coronavirus available around the world by that time. File picture: Pexels

The head of the Irish drugs firm that is involved in international Covid-19 vaccine trials said that large parts of the vulnerable Irish population will have been vaccinated against Covid-19 by April or May, promising to transform the economic outlook by next summer.

Cathal Friel, executive chairman of pharmaceutical services firm Open Orphan, said economic restrictions will “by and large” be lifted by early summer because there will be a number of vaccines developed for the coronavirus available around the world by that time.