Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Part of the challenge is that we are being told that society has moved on in terms of Covid. Dr. Lambert mentioned mask-wearing. A lot of the measures that were introduced seem to have been put aside. Does part of the challenge involve the need for society to face up to the fact that Covid is going to be here for the long term? Dr. Lambert mentioned the different variants, such as Omicron and its subvariants. Clearly, it is getting better at evading our immune defences. As Dr. Lambert stated, the vaccines do not stop the virus but they may save people's lives.

I know a person who has had Covid three times. Is it possible to keep getting reinfected with Covid? Is one of the dangers that the vaccine does not stop the virus and a person can keep getting infected? Is it the case that every time a person gets the virus, it attacks the immune system and the immune system keeps going down? Is the real worry that as we, as a society and the world, move on in future, all these different subvariants are getting better at evading things? Unless we come up with solutions to these variants or suppress them, we are going to be facing a very bleak future.