Dr. Tony Holohan:

In the last round of the advice we gave, which was accepted, we identified five criteria that it would be important to satisfy before we could move on, if you like, in respect of our collective response to the vaccination programme. By moving on, I do not just mean in the context of social and economic restrictions, but also in the evolution of our public health management and so on. One criterion we identified, and which was accepted, was that the target for the vaccination rate should be 90% of the population of people over the age of 16. That was the target which was set. I already observed that we have reached a rate above 88%, which is really good news. If there are still people out there, especially in the group aged 16 to 30, or in a position to influence individuals in that group, and I am sure there are, we need them to keep pushing on as much as possible. The HSE has done a good job, but we must keep going.

Turning to the specifics concerning antigen testing, a significant review of its role in screening, conducted by HIQA, will be considered by NPHET tomorrow. We of course see a role for antigen testing and we have always done so. We are specific, however, regarding the circumstances in which we think the role of antigen testing has an evidence base to support its use. We do not think that role exists now for its use as a screening test in asymptomatic situations.

I will let Dr. Glynn address the issue of wider public health messaging. If I am not mistaken, he mentioned ventilation during his initial remarks.