The Covid-19 briefing at the Department of Health heard concerns in relation to a variant of the virus first detected in India.
It follows confirmation of 524 further confirmed cases while the number of patients being treated for the virus in intensive care remains at 38. NPHET concerned over Indian variant cases The Chief Medical Officer has said that the National Public Health Emergency Team is "genuinely concerned" about the number of cases of the so-called Indian variant in Ireland.
Dr Tony Holohan said that data from Public Health England, due to be published later today, is likely to show a decrease in effectiveness of the vaccine in the prevention of transmission of this variant after the first dose. "In broad terms, you could