We hosted a webinar on Tuesday, 23 February looking at the Government strategy for the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, and how this will affect the re-opening of the economy.

Robert Watt, Interim Secretary General, Department of Health, joined Catherine Allen, Head of Public, Regulatory & Investigations, Mason Hayes & Curran LLP at this webinar to discuss the Government plans for the vaccine rollout, as well as looking at the potential roadblocks that could occur in 2021.

According to the Central Bank of Ireland’s first quarterly bulletin of 2021, the Irish economy expanded last year, despite the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. A 4% increase in exports led to GDP growth of 2.5%. However, as we look forward to the next 12 months, the impact of lockdowns will likely have a negative effect on economic activity in the first quarter of this year. Many are hoping that the roll-out of vaccines will provide an effective route to the re-opening of the sectors most affected by the pandemic, but there are still risks associated with any premature re-opening of the economy. At this webinar, Mr Watt discussed the Government vaccine strategy as well as the issues likely to occur as we move through 2021, followed by a Q&A session.