Covid-19: Vaccines to start tomorrow but officials warn of expected 'large increase' in cases 

Handout photo of the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arriving in the Republic of Ireland in recent days. Picture: Marc O'Sullivan/PA Wire

The first Covid-19 vaccinations will be rolled out tomorrow, a day earlier than originally planned, the head of the HSE has confirmed.

The news will come as welcome relief, as the number of new cases has been increasing sharply and is expected to continue to do so for the coming days.

Yesterday, some 744 new cases of the virus were announced by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), following a record high of almost 1,300 cases, which had been announced on St Stephen's Day.

Despite the introduction of new public health restrictions, cases are expected to continue to rise for the coming days, as there is typically a 10 to 14-day lag before the impact of restrictions are seen.

Chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Tony Holohan said there has also been a significant increase in hospitalisations from 190 two weeks ago, to 324 now. 

"This indicates a deteriorating disease trajectory nationally and is a significant reminder of the severity of this disease," he said.

"Due to the lower volume of tests being carried out over Christmas Day and [St Stephen's Day], we believe there are higher levels of disease circulating in the community than [these] reported case numbers reflect. We expect, therefore, to see a large increase in cases reported over the coming days."

Appealing to people to review their plans for New Year's Eve in light of the continued increase in case numbers, HSE chief Paul Reid confirmed the first vaccinations will roll out a day earlier than planned, starting tomorrow on December 29 instead of December 30.

Questions had been asked as to why Ireland was a few days behind other European countries in administering the vaccine. Germany and Hungary are among the countries which have already started vaccinating people.

Mr Reid said there is a "complex consent process" surrounding vaccinations, but that it is now expected that the first doses will be administered tomorrow, December 29.

"What we do in the first few days is very important. We will be doing it at a pace, but safely," Mr Reid told RTÉ news, adding that "priority and effectiveness" were key.

Nursing home residents and staff are among those who will receive the first doses of the vaccine in the coming days, with all public and private nursing homes to be completed "by the end of February", Mr Reid said.

Earlier, Mr Reid had said the positivity rate of Covid-19 in the community is around 10% and that "alarming" levels of testing and tracing is taking place.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar had initially said he did not know why there was a delay between the arrival of the vaccine in Ireland on Saturday, December 26, and the rollout of the first doses, previously planned for December 30.

However, he did also provide some positivity amid the concern, advising that the Moderna vaccine is likely to be approved on January 6 and the AstraZeneca vaccine should be approved before the end of January.

The latter is to be a particularly important element of Ireland's vaccine rollout as the country has pre-ordered "a huge number of them", Mr Varadkar said.

The Tánaiste said the rollout of the vaccine here may be slower than in other countries, but stressed it is important to "do it right".

"I think we will probably start a bit slower, but catch up," he said. "I don't see it as a race, I think it's important that we do it right."

Mr Varadkar said the sharp increase in cases had been a shock, adding "nobody anticipated that numbers would rise so quickly".

Despite the earlier-than-planned rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine, the Tánaiste added that restrictions are likely to remain in place for some time.

"Whatever restrictions we have in place now are going to be there for a prolonged period," said Mr Varadkar.

"I don't think we'll be getting rid of the restrictions permanently in February or March — restrictions such as mass gatherings, for example. I don't see them happening until the summer at the earliest."