Stephen Donnelly hoping all adults will be able to be fully vaccinated by the end of August

NIAC's latest advice could mean Ireland's adults who want a vaccine may be fully vaccinated sooner.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he hopes all adults will be able to be fully vaccinated by the end of August. His comments come following National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) advice which will see AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines allowed to be used on all adults over 18. While a target had previously been set to get every adult in Ireland who wants a vaccine fully vaccinated by the end of September, Donnelly told Virgin Media News that the NIAC advice could mean this would happen sooner. He said: "We have been on plan before the NIAC advice to have every adult in the country who wants to be vaccinated fully vaccinated by the end of September. "We're working right now to calculate exactly what the change might be in terms of vaccinating people earlier but certainly it will move it forward several weeks. "It would be lovely to be able to see a situation where every adult who wanted a vaccine would be fully vaccinated ideally by the end of August. "But we need to work through the exact modelling of that now with the HSE, with the taskforce, and as always these timelines are heavily dependent on the supplies that arrive in." He was speaking following the government's announcement on Tuesday that indoor dining will be delayed due to fears regarding the Delta variant. During the announcement, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: "The simple truth is that we are in a race between the variant and vaccines and we want to do anything we possibly can to make sure that the vaccine wins."