Ireland is getting "very close" to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a leading immunologist.
Professor Paul Moynagh says the virus will likely become endemic instead, with most people protected by either vaccines or "natural immunity".
There was a note of optimism at the latest NPHET press conference due to the strong progress in the vaccine programme.
There were 1,408 new cases confirmed yesterday, with nine deaths confirmed over the last week.
However, Dr Tony Holohan said the “great progress” in the vaccine rollout could lead to a further easing of restrictions in the coming weeks.
Prof Moynagh - Professor of Immunology at Maynooth University - told Newstalk Breakfast the virus could now be changing course.
He said: “A number of weeks ago, the projections were not very good - we were hearing very large numbers.
“Now what we seem to be seeing is a decrease in the day-to-day increase we had been seeing. The percentage of those cases ending up in hospital is going down… the duration of hospital stays is going down.”
Data from England and Scotland - both of which had also faced a surge in cases attributed to the Delta variant - also appear to show the trends have reversed, again thanks to widespread vaccination.
Prof Moynagh observed: “I think we’re getting to the stage where a number of countries - like ourselves, UK and most countries in Europe - are getting very close to the end of the pandemic phase, and will probably move more into an endemic phase.
“The virus will be circulating in the background, but thankfully most of us will be protected by either vaccination or natural immunity through infection.”
