Covid vaccine acceleration
In a game-changing move for many younger people waiting on a Covid-19 vaccine in Ireland, those aged between 18 and 34 will be able to get a jab through a pharmacy from Monday and in mass vaccination centres later this month.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has announced that from July 5th, Janssen vaccines will be available to those aged 18-34 in pharmacies.
Making the vaccines available through pharmacies will mean that many will be vaccinated one to two months earlier than anticipated, Mr Donnelly said.
From Friday, July 9th the vaccine registration portal will open for those aged 30 to 34 and will proceed down through the age group.
We've broken down everything you need to know about the changes to the rollout — including when you can expect your jab, where you will get it, and if you will have a choice of which vaccine you take.
Fourth wave
Ireland is at the beginning of the fourth wave of Covid-19 and a “serious level of transmission” is expected in the coming weeks, public health officials have warned.
Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said it was “a question of when, rather than if” the Delta variant becomes dominant in Ireland, and said the aim was to slow down transmission as much as possible.
The speeding up of the Covid-19 vaccination programme next week to 18-34 year olds will not “materially alter” the course of what the country will be dealing with in July and August, deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn has warned.
Much of Europe will be experiencing a fourth wave of Covid-19 in three or four weeks' time, he said.
International travel is of more concern in Ireland’s fight against the Delta variant than indoor dining, according to a leading virologist.
Dr Cillian De Gascun, director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory and a member of Nphet, said Nphet’s position remained that non-essential travel should be avoided, even though the Government had decided to go ahead with the EU's digital travel cert and allow travel from July 19th.
Global tax system
Ireland is one of nine countries that did not sign an agreement to reform the global corporate tax regime because of a proposed minimum rate of at least 15 per cent, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said.
A statement by 130 countries at the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) backed plans for a tax rate of at least 15 per cent and taxing more of the profits of the biggest multinationals in countries where the profits are earned.
Mr Donohoe, who is negotiating on behalf of Ireland, said the Government broadly supported the deal and would continue to engage with it.
“I was not in a position to join the consensus on the agreement and specifically a global minimum effective tax rate of ‘at least 15%’ today,” Mr Donohoe said in a statement.
