Ireland has now administered half a million coronavirus strokes.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin hailed Irish progress in the pandemic and tweeted on Saturday afternoon that the health service executive had informed him that the country had exceeded half a million.
Speaking before a a video posted on Twitter, Martin said he had been inspired by recent visits to vaccination centers where thousands of front-line health workers received inoculation.
He said the government and the HSE were doing everything possible to secure supplies and give vaccines to people as quickly as possible.
The first coronavirus vaccine in Ireland was given to a woman in Dublin, Annie Lynch, on 29 December.
“Next week we will start vaccinating those with underlying health conditions, in addition to continuing to vaccinate those over the age of 70 and health care workers,” Martin said.
The taoiseach said vaccines reduce the impact of the virus, adding, “This can be seen in the reduced levels of infection in our nursing homes and our front-line health workers.
“This brings hope, along with the continued decline in the Covid number, thanks to the sacrifices you have been making.
“The incidence level of 14 days [of confirmed cases per 100,000 population] this week has dropped below 200 for the first time since Christmas. While our health services are still under pressure, the number of patients in our hospitals and ICUs is declining significantly. “
However, he added a cautionary note, warning that variants of the virus mean people should not relax by observing restrictions.
On Saturday, the number of patients in intensive care in Ireland with Covid-19 dropped to 101, and the number of cases in the hospital was 414.
Paul Reid, the chief executive of the HSE, described it as a “big signal”.
Nine deaths from the virus and 522 new cases were reported in Ireland on Friday.
Covid case graph in Ireland
A peaceful demonstration against the blockade restrictions took place in Cork on Saturday.
A similar event in Dublin last week ended in violent scenes, with 23 people arrested and three injured.
There was a strong police presence in Cork and some shops climbed into its shop windows while it was estimated that a crowd of hundreds of people were gathering on St Patrick’s Street.
There had been requests to call off the event, including the mayor of the city, Joe Kavanagh, and government minister Simon Coveney.
Organizers of the rally, the People’s Convention, said it would be a “peaceful assembly.”