Dr Tony Holohan has confirmed that Omicron will become the dominant alternative to Covid in Ireland
Speaking with Brian Dobson, chief medical officer said: «What we would expect, and our working assumption is that if Omicron has the transmission advantage, it will become the dominant alternative.»
«We don’t have the ambition to prevent this from happening, because unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be possible,» he continued.
«What we think is really important is that we try to slow its spread as much as possible.»
Omicron is currently spreading rapidly across Britain and yesterday Taoiseach confirmed new rules for travelers arriving in Ireland from the UK.
The advice came as Omicron cases are increasing in Ireland.
Michael Martin discussed concerns about the new replacement with Claire Brook on Virgin Media’s Tonight Show
The government has issued new advice for people arriving in Ireland from the UK. Passengers will now have to take 5 antigen tests within a 5-day period after arriving in the country.
The new rules come after five new cases of Omicron were confirmed in Ireland yesterday, for a total of six.
«We hear so far that it has an advantage over Delta in terms of its contagiousness and its ability to infect, but also, it might be less severe in its impact, but we don’t know that for sure,» Taoiseach said.
He said the booster release will provide effective protection and help bring down ICU numbers.
«I know they’re now saying that mRNA vaccines will give you protection against severe disease or disease from Omicron,» he explained.
«But having said that, I think we need more data and I think the really key message is that vaccination really helps you in terms of avoiding severe illness or hospitalization or admission to the ICU.»
He continued: «We will take the EU approach but having said that, we are telling people coming from Great Britain for example that you should now take five antigen tests within five days after your arrival.»
Taoiseach said the new advice would not be enforced by law, but that passengers should «use a very high degree of caution when traveling».
«We are not going to stop Omicron, but we can try to delay it as much as possible,» he said.
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