A leading immunologist has said Covid-19 is "under control" as Ireland approaches the "end game" with the virus.
Luke O'Neill, a professor of immunology at Trinity College Dublin, agrees that the disease can cease to be a global health emergency this year.
While new variants may emerge and there will likely be a surge in winter, he believes that one "weapon" in particular will be imperative in fighting coronavirus.
The top professor said his head is still "spinning" after the lifting of restrictions over the weekend as he "couldn't believe it happened so quickly".
"It made sense because it won't get better in the next few months, we have massive vaccination now which is just tremendous and the Omicron wave is now passing so now is the time to reopen," he said.
He acknowledged that while some people will be anxious, he encouraged them to get out and "reclaim their lives".
"There's a huge consensus that we're now entering the end game...all the evidence looks great that it is somewhat under control," Prof O'Neill told RTE's Today with Claire Byrne programme.
"The big message was, 'Get ready for next winter', there may be a spike in the next few weeks because of all the mixing we're doing and we know it will be a mild disease, but it's bound to go up next winter so let's make sure we're prepared.
"There's always a fear when you say it's all over because people start relaxing too much in a way but the really good news is we know what to do.
"The WHO's European Director said let's prepare for next winter, I know it seems a long way off, but there will be a surge next winter because it's a respiratory disease and like the flu, it will come back.
"We've got the vaccines, we've got the anti-virals and very excitingly, there's a pan-coronavirus vaccine which is being developed that will be able to work against any variant.
"There's huge optimism now because of this discovery."
Prof O'Neill explained that this will be a single vaccine that should work against any type of Covid virus, "which is marvellous".
He also reassured people that a new Omicron 'sub-variant' BA.2 that has been detected in several countries recently is not a major cause for concern.
"It's nothing to worry about, it's even more transmissible which is good but yet again it's not causing severe disease," he said.
"It's a sibling of Omicron and that's likely to spread through the world and that will give us even more protection.
"If you do get infected post-vaccination you shouldn't worry about it too much because the vaccine will protect you."
The immunology expert added that there are no guarantees that new variants won't keep emerging in the future, but added that anti-viral pills will be a "really good weapon" against all strains of Covid.
"We were lucky with Omicron, a more malignant one could have cropped up but Omicron turned out to be less disease-causing and that was a bit of luck in a way," he said.
"There's no guarantee a virus gets weaker over time, you can get a vicious one cropping up and that's our other concern, will new variants come along?
"We'll keep a very close eye on that but there's optimism because we know the vaccines work against Omicron and the vaccines worked for the previous variant so if a new one crops up, there's a very good chance the immunity we build up will work against any other variant anyway.
"There's still a risk of a variant that could be more dangerous, and again, we can spot that and the really good weapon is the anti-virals, they will work against any variant we know that now."
