Extensive work is ongoing to make sure Ireland has access to vaccines once they become available, the National Public Health Emergency Team has said.
Trials are taking place in several countries, with some already advancing to phase three of their testing.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn says the signs for a vaccine are positive:
“We’re moving forward but as part of essentially a European bloc, to procure as much of whichever vaccines come through the trials, and again I suppose on a positive note, it’s early days but the news that is coming out from the existing trials is positive.
“A number of them have now gone into phase three, but hopefully out of that we will get a couple of candidates that can show us the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Dr Ray Walley from the GP Expert Advisory Group on Covid-19 has previously said Ireland is “lucky” to have access to a European-wide agreement around vaccines:
"We are a small country and we need to recognise that but we now have got access to a purchase capacity at the same level as the rest of Europe."
Latest figures show no further deaths have been recorded, while 11 new cases were confirmed on Monday.
Worldwide, the total number of cases has risen to nearly 16.5 million, while the death toll stands at 654,000.
