It’s a huge relief for frontline workers and their families.

Though Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout has been slow, experts have confirmed that the jab is beginning to have a ‘significant impact’ on hospital staff, reducing infections by almost three quarters.

Almost 360,000 people have been vaccinated in recent weeks and 133,325 people have received their second dose.

“In the last ten days, we have seen Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme move into the community,” said Dr Lucy Jessop, Director, National Immunisation Office.

“The vaccine is already having a significant impact on our healthcare workers. In the last week in January, almost 1,400 healthcare workers contracted COVID-19; that number was less than 300 last week. This is wonderful news and clearly demonstrates the early impact the vaccination programme is having.”

While the news is positive and the reproduction number remains below 1, new variants continue to emerge, leaving health experts concerned about the months to come.

A further 613 new cases, 24 of which were in Cork, and 35 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.

“Even if you have received your COVID-19 vaccine, you must continue to wash your hands, wear a face covering, maintain a social distance and keep your close contacts to a minimum.” added Dr Jessop.