Leo Varadkar says the country’s unvaccinated against Covid-19 are causing “a lot of the trouble”.
The Tánaiste’s told CNN Connect the World in Abu Dhabi, that the unvaccinated population can create an “awful lot of difficulty”.
He told Becky Anderson …“Things were going so well. I think as a nation we’re a little bit heartbroken that we’re back into a difficult space when it comes to Covid. We do have among the highest vaccinations rates in the world, around 94pc of adults are fully vaccinated.
“Unfortunately, the 5% that are not are causing a lot of the trouble, about 5% are not fully vaccinated but about 50% of people in hospital and ICU are not fully vaccinated. So even that 5pc can create an awful lot of difficulty”.
When asked whether the Government would consider restrictions purely for the unvaccinated.
“We’ve never done that and to be honest we’re reluctant to do that. One of the things our Constitution does is protect people’s right to a livelihood. Ultimately it is a personal choice and questions around bodily autonomy and personal freedom do matter.
Booster shots are highly topical and in-demand with warnings that people should not hesitate to get one if it is offered. Mr. Varadkar says the roll-out of new jabs is essential.
“It’s very evident now that immunity from the vaccine is waning and we can see that across Europe and that’s why we’re going to need to give people a third dose. I would anticipate that we’ll offer the third dose to everyone, as has been the case in other countries.”
With the onset of news restrictions and night-time curfews, the Fine Gael leader said the situation will be re-assessed in two weeks.
“I hope not we’re going to reassess the situation in about two weeks’ time and see if cases have stabilised. I’ve always said that I felt we need to get through another winter before we can say that this pandemic is safely behind us, and this may become a problem that we have to deal with every winter.”
