Ireland is in the "most challenging logistical phase" of the vaccination rollout and people have been urged to comply with public health guidance to ensure there isn't a fourth surge of Covid-19 before the full benefits of the inoculations are felt.
The remarks were made by senior government official Liz Canavan as it separately emerged this morning that Ireland is to receive a further 46,500 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as part of a deal secured by the European Union.
There has been pressure on the Government in recent days over the slow pace of the vaccine rollout and missed targets for deliveries and administration of the injections.
We have reached an agreement with BioNTech-Pfizer for the supply of four million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines for EU countries in the next two weeks.
— European Commission (@EU_Commission) March 10, 2021
This will help tackle coronavirus hotspots and facilitate free border movement. #StrongerTogether
Pleased this morning to have confirmation from Commission President @vonderleyen that Ireland will secure an additional 46,500 Pfizer BioNTech vaccines before the end of March. When they get here, they will be administered quickly. Efforts ongoing to increase production.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) March 10, 2021
Efforts to source extra vaccines from other EU countries and the UK have been unsuccessful as has a Government bid to convince pharma companies Pfizer and Merck to manufacture vaccines in Ireland to boost supply.
Speaking after the additional vaccine supplies were announced Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said there were no “surplus” vaccines in other European countries or in the UK as these countries had not completed their vaccination programmes.
The Tánaiste acknowledged there had been “slippage” with regard to the timeline for delivery of vaccines but said neither the manufacturing nor the delivery of vaccines was in the control of the Government.
Mr Varadkar told RTÉ Radio the Government had tried to give up to date information to the public, but said that information frequently changed.
“In and around one million doses” of vaccine are expected in April, he said, with an additional “1.25 million expected in May and 1.68 million in June. These figures all came with the caveat that deliveries were out of the control of the Government,” he said.
He also said State aid would be available to aid in the production of vaccines in Ireland, if that was a possibility.
Four million extra Pfizer-BioNTech doses will be delivered to EU countries under a deal which was reached with the pharmaceutical company, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the doses would arrive by the end of March, and “administered quickly”.
He also said that efforts were ongoing to increase production of the vaccine.
The doses will be distributed to member states according to their population size, meaning Ireland is in line for roughly 46,500 extra vaccines, enough to fully vaccinate 23,225 people, in March on top of the deliveries that were already due, according to the Government.
A Government source said the extra doses will supplement the existing rollout plan and there are no plans to change the order of prioritisation for administering vaccines for different groups.
At her weekly Covid-19 briefing, the assistant secretary general of the Department of the Taoiseach, Ms Canavan, said Ireland is in the “most challenging logistical phase” of the vaccination programme as it involves delivering mRNA vaccines - which have enhanced storage requirements - “the length and breadth of the country.”
She said there has been “a lot of focus” on a missed target of vaccinating all over 85-year-olds by the end of last week but said that 72,000 people have been and the remaining 800 - around 1 per cent - are being given the vaccines in GP surgeries this week.
She said a European Medicines Agency decision on approving the single dose Jansen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine is due to be made tomorrow.
She said: “We must make sure that we don’t experience a fourth surge of the virus before the benefits of the vaccine can be experienced.
Earlier, announcing the extra vaccine allocation for the EU Commission president Ms von der Leyen said “I’m happy to announce today an agreement with BioNTech-Pfizer, who will offer to Member States to make available a total of four million doses of vaccines before the end of March, which will be supplied in addition to the planned dose deliveries.
“This will help Member States in their efforts to keep the spread of new variants under control.”
The extra doses were made possible as "a result of the successful expansion of manufacturing capacities in Europe, which was completed by mid-February," the Commission said in a statement.
The additional doses will help cushion the impact of deep cuts in expected deliveries by AstraZeneca that have slowed vaccination campaigns across the bloc.
There are also concerns that Johnson & Johnson may struggle to begin deliveries before mid-April if its vaccine is approved by the EMA, as export controls by the United States amid tough global competition for doses put pressure on supply.
So far, vaccination campaigns have brought down deaths in the EU as vulnerable and elderly populations are inoculated, but there are concerns about the potential of new variants and hospitalisations have been increasing in some regions.
Several member states have introduced border controls in a bid to stop the spread of the more contagious variants.
The BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine would help combat this as it “has proven highly effective against all currently known variants”, the Commission said.
