DUBLIN (Reuters) – The Omicron variant will likely be the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Ireland by next week, Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday, after it jumped to accounting for 14% of cases from just 1% a week ago.
Varadkar told the Newstalk Radio station that he expected the country’s health chiefs to recommend a tightening of COVID-19 restrictions on Thursday around the managing of close contacts, decreasing social mixing and on international travel.
The government also plans to increase the number of booster doses administered to 1.75 million by Christmas and possibly 2 million by year-end, Varadkar said, up from a previous target of 1.5 million. Almost 1.3 million of Ireland’s 5 million population has received a booster jab to date.
(Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alex Richardson)
