The move to Level 5 COVID-19 restrictions has protected hospital services from being overwhelmed this winter, according to a member of NPHET.
Dr John Cuddihy, who is the Interim Director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, says despite a recent rise in infections, the overall trends with the virus remain good.
Today, there are 249 coronavirus patients being treated in hospital, after five new admissions over the past 24 hours, while 33 people are in ICUs.
It comes as there were six further deaths and 456 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the Republic yesterday.
Speaking to On The Record with Gavan Reilly, Dr Cuddihy said the indicators that the number of cases are falling in recent days is good news.
He said: "It was usual that we would see a variation in the day to day case rates.
"The five-day moving average is now 355 cases per day.
"If we look at the 14-day cumulative incidence, that's 129 per 100,000 of the population and that's more than halved from where it was two weeks ago.
"It's not a uniform picture across the country but the overall trends are good.
Dr Cuddihy said that people's adherence to public health guidelines have helped lower the transmission of the virus but added that moving from Level 3 to Level 5 had been necessary.
He said: "The measures in Level 3 contributed to an initial reduction in case numbers but they didn't bring them down sufficiently.
"Safe to say in many areas, they reached a steady rate.
"We needed to bring those numbers down further and I think Level 5 measures were necessary to attempt to do that.
"As we know from previous years, we see a surge in demand for hospital services around Christmas into January and February.
"The modelling team looking at the projected numbers, it was very clear that Level 5 measures we a necessity."
Dr Cuddihy added that while the spread of COVID-19 among younger people had reduced, there were increased incidences of the virus in the over 65 age group.
He said this was a "particular concern" and added that if the rate of "disease activity" in the community low then that would help those in vulnerable groups.
Vaccine
Dr Cuddihy said it was "positive news" that Pfizer and German firm BioNTech published initial data showing their coronavirus vaccine candidate is 90% effective with no evidence of side effects.
He said: "From what we know from the press release, two doses will be required which need to be stored under 80 degrees.
"That poses some logistical issues," he said, as the specialised freezers required to store the vaccines are only found in labs and hospitals.
However, Dr Cuddihy said these challenges "are not insurmountable" and that work is already underway to ensure a smooth distribution of the jab.
He said: "In this one, it's being held in coolers filled with dry ice and then the vaccine can be stored in a fridge for five days before administering.
"Plans are already in place, there's a government taskforce which has already met and there's also an EU steering board for the procurement of the vaccines and the Department of Health and the HSE are represented in that.
Meanwhile, the scientist behind the first COVID-19 vaccine to clear interim trials says its safety profile is "absolutely benign" according to the latest data.
BioNTech founder, Professor Ugur Sahin, says typical vaccine side effects like soreness around the injection site have only been highlighted so far.
Speaking to the BBC, Professor Sahin added that he is "confident" the vaccine will generate an immune response in newly discovered variants of the disease.
It follows concerns that strains found in minks in Denmark might make a vaccine less effective.
He added that further investigation will be taking place over the next two weeks.
