It could be extended from 28 days to six or eight weeks.
A decision is set to be made by Cabinet on Tuesday on whether to widen the gap between the first and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.
he gap for both is currently 28 days, however, the Government is set to meet to discuss the possibility of widening the gap to six or eight weeks.
The proposal was put to the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and is to come before the Cabinet today, according to
the Irish Independent.
The widened gap would allow more of the population to receive the majority of the protection offered by the first jab. However, it would also extend the time period for where the adult population will be fully vaccinated amid growing concern over variants.
Meanwhile, no decision has been made yet on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for the under-50s age group.
NIAC is set to issue their advice to the Government on the use of the vaccine later this week.
Dr Tony Holohan said on Monday that he expects to receive an updated recommendation from the committee on the issue in the coming days.
Last week, Taoiseach
Micheál Martin said that Ireland will be ramping up its vaccination centres over the coming months.
He said that Ireland's vaccination rollout programme is still "broadly on track" in spite of losing a number of weeks of progress due to recommendations on the usage of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Martin said that there has been "some reduction" in the shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses.
However, he is hopeful that Ireland will still be able to meet its vaccination target of having 80% of the adult population vaccinated by the end of summer.
"The bulk of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was due in late May or June so the bulk of it is still to come, and there's been a reduction in the second shipment of that but it was low enough anyways, to begin with," he said.
"We've lost some weeks as I've said, but we're broadly on target, so we will be doing everything we can to reach that."
The Taoiseach said it is now up to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to take the National Immunisation Advisory Committee's (NIAC) advice on board and work out the "logistics" for the ramped up rollout of the vaccine.
