The Taoiseach announced yesterday that outside of the phased reopening of schools from next week, all other restrictions on social and economic activity - including construction - will continue up to at least April 5th, at which point a review will take place.

The announcement was accompanied by a 60-page document entitled COVID-19 Resilience & Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead. It lays out in detail what the public now know about the virus, the impact it has had on the economy and society, and the approach to the next stage as vaccines are rolled out. Page 34 lays out the vaccine rollout, in particular stating that it will quadruple from the pace seen since the start of the year from April onwards. 

Even allowing for the disappointing news on supply from AstraZeneca yesterday, monthly supply will increase to 1.25m doses in April. This means that a cumulative 5.1m doses will be available by the end of June. Under current policies on doses, that would be sufficient to vaccinate 58% of the population. 

According to Goodbody Stockbrokers, "As we explained yesterday, we find it strange that the reopening of the economy and society was not linked to this vaccine rollout plan, particularly given what we know about the success of the vaccine in other countries. Despite the disappointment about the prospect of lockdown for the next six weeks, the rapid increase in vaccine deployment offers hope."

Source: www.businessworld.ie