Leo Varadkar, the deputy prime minister, said on Tuesday that Ireland plans to undertake a significant vaccination campaign against COVID-19 and flu in advance of a potentially alarming winter outbreak that could force the reintroduction of mask use in some circumstances.
Ireland, which had one of the strictest lockdown policies in all of Europe, removed all COVID-19 limits early this year. Varadkar noted that although infections are once again on the rise, the current wave appeared to be reaching its apex and that in the next two to three weeks, the number of hospitalised patients was anticipated to begin declining.
‘The following wave, which will arrive in the winter when we spend more time indoors, worries me more since it could coincide with the flu. Since 2019, there hasn’t really been a significant flu season,’ he spoke to RTE, a national network.
‘Early September will see the start of a very broad COVID and flu vaccination programme, and it’s possible that during the winter we’ll once again ask people to wear masks in specific locations. Although I don’t see us needing to reintroduce rules that force enterprises to shut down, nobody can absolutely rule that out.’
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