People who are not fully vaccinated causing 'a lot of the trouble' says Varadkar

Leo Varadkar said as a nation, Ireland is 'a little bit heartbroken' that we are back in a 'difficult space' with Covid-19. 

Speaking on CNN's Connect the World, the Tánaiste said the 5% that are not vaccinated are causing 'a lot of the trouble'.

At present, 5% of the Irish population are not vaccinated and 50% of people in ICU are not fully vaccinated.

"It is very evident that immunity from the vaccines is waining." added Mr. Varadkar.

He said Ireland is in the process of distributing the booster vaccine to the adult population.

The current Covid situation will be reassessed in 2 weeks' time to see if cases will have stabilized but there is no guarantee, added the Tánaiste.

"We have to get through another winter before we can say this pandemic is safely behind us, and it may be the case that it becomes a problem that we must deal with every winter. We must make sure we are prepared for that through vaccination, and other measures around test, trace, and isolate." he said. 

He said the Irish government is 'reluctant' to impose tighter restrictions for the unvaccinated as everybody has a right to a livelihood in the constitution.

"We have never said to anyone that they cannot work if they are not vaccinated and ultimately it is a personal choice." he added. 

He said restrictions would not be imposed if everyone was vaccinated and the unvaccinated are at 'a higher risk than ever' of contracting the virus because 'it is so prevalent in the community'.

"While you may acquire immunity by getting infected you may also end up in hospital." he added.