Too much focus on vaccines – Covid ‘fire’ must be extinguished, expert warns

'The vaccine is important and will get us out of this hole but at the moment the focus needs to be on getting the transmission of the disease down in the community,' Prof Ivan Perry said. Picture: Domnick Walsh

The Covid fire “raging” across the country needs to be "put out", according to UCC professor Ivan Perry, who said too much focus on vaccines risked losing sight of the current crisis.

The professor of epidemiology said a “proper” lockdown, similar to that in the first wave of the pandemic, was needed to bring current infection rates under control.