‘Vaccine bonus’ – what are the extra freedoms for those fully vaccinated?

People who have been fully vaccinated will have a further ‘vaccine bonuses’ as part of the Government’s easing of restrictions.

From May 10, people from up to three households who have been vaccinated will be able to meet up indoors without any masks or social distancing.

However, fully vaccinated people will also be able to meet up with unvaccinated people indoors.

Those who are vaccinated will be able to meet up with unvaccinated people from one other household indoors, as long as there are no more than three households present and nobody is at risk of serious illness. In both cases, there will not be a need for masks or social distancing.

The Taoiseach called these “increased opportunities” for people who have been fully vaccinated.

Nphet will issue further guidance for people who are vaccinated.

Speaking yesterday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that around one in three people aged over 16 had now been vaccinated.

He said that from next week, people aged 50-59 would be able to register for their jabs on the online portal.

“The Covid vaccines are transformative. We can see it in countries all across the world and we can see it here.

“Already, almost all of our most vulnerable are now protected – and we can already see that the rates of death, serious illness, hospital admissions and infections in people who have been vaccinated, have collapsed,” he said.

Mr Martin added that there were “very few” families who had not yet had a member of the family been vaccinated.

All across the country, there are very few families that have not witnessed at first hand the sense of relief and sheer joy of a loved one receiving their vaccine.

As part of the bonus, restrictions on nursing home visits have already been eased.
From May 4, indoor visits will increase to four visits per week in nursing homes where 80pc of residents have been vaccinated. Two people will be allowed per visit.

There should be no time limits to these visits, according to Prof Martin Cormican, Professor of Bacteriology at NUI Galway – however, they should be at least an hour. If is necessary to limit a visit to an hour, that time should begin from the time that the visitor and the resident are together. These visits do not include outdoor or window visits.