Analysis: Government pins recovery hopes on vaccine rollout

Covid supports cannot be maintained indefinitely but the Taoiseach’s confidence in ramping up the pace of vaccination is a positive sign for now

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Phil O’Neill, chief operations officer of the HSE, and Paul Reid, HSE chief executive, at the vaccination centre in Citywest, Dublin. Picture: Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland

The government always hoped that the daily focus would switch at some stage from the number of Covid-19 cases to the number of vaccinations.

That is the case in the state’s Covid Tracker app, where the display for users first shows the one million-plus people who have been vaccinated, and then the daily case numbers.

And it was evident in the Dáil at leaders’ questions, where the achievement of the vaccination targets was a key ...