Covid-19: ‘Finally, we are really getting there’

Despite ongoing difficulties, more than two million jabs have been administered, and one in seven adults in Ireland are now fully vaccinated. But what does the post-coronavirus future hold?

People queue up outside the Covid-19 vaccination centre at the Aviva Stadium. Picture: Fergal Phillips

“The profile of Covid-19 in Ireland is generally stable with strong grounds for optimism.” Did we ever think we’d hear those words uttered by the typically ultra-cautious Professor Phillip Nolan?

Their delivery by the chair of the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) modelling advisory group was highly significant as the country enters into the most significant stages in its widespread reopening.

Dr Tony Holohan, the chief medical officer, had already issued a decree that ...