Professor Luke O'Neill has said that a new Covid-19 vaccine being developed by Moderna to target the Omicron variant could be "strong enough to last for a year".
Covid-19 cases in Irish hospitals have rose rapidly over the past two weeks, with 508 people currently in hospital with the virus, 28 of whom are receiving intensive care.
Moderna announced last week its trial results for a new booster vaccine, with the vaccine noted to demonstrate "superior antibody response against Omicron."
Read more: Professor Luke O'Neill says new Covid-19 vaccination campaign in autumn 'likely'
Professor O'Neill is part of the new Government's Covid-19 Advisory Group and told Newstalk that initial results show the the new Omicron specific vaccine to be "really effective."
He said: "They got a very high antibody response. It was a hugely effective vaccine in the trial of course, this is the first trial of this.
“So now we have the first the Omicron-specific vaccine. The prediction will be that this will now become the one to use, obviously, because Omicron is easily the most dominant one in the world at the moment, alongside its siblings BA.4 and BA.5.”
He said the new jab could last for a full year.
Professor O'Neill said: "The response was so strong they are saying it might last a year.”
“So, in other words, this might be what we’re looking for. You get your vaccine that protects you for at least a year and then it becomes like the flu vaccine in a sense.”
Professor O'Neill said that the long-term goal for scientists is to create a "universal" jab that works against all coronaviruses.
Professor O'Neill also noted that several vaccines are also being tested to prevent infection as well as disease.
He said: "There are several of those now being tested.
"These would be intranasal vaccines to protect your nose because infection happens in your nose. So again, a huge amount of effort is still going on in the background. "
He added: "There is an awful lot of people still working on this to try to get a really great vaccine, again, just in case a new variant emerges.”
Meanwhile, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan has said that there was no discussion needed at the moment about additional advice or restrictions.
In a letter to Minister Stephen Donnelly, the CMO said: "I have no advice nor have there been any questions raised in the Department of Health at this point around additional restrictions."
Summarising the situation in the letter sent on June 10, Dr Holohan said: '“If the recent rising trend in hospitalised cases continues, we are likely to see increased pressure on the hospital system over the coming weeks.”
Read more: Spain lifts requirement on Covid cert for Irish and EU tourists
Read more: HSE blasted as hero nurses still waiting for €1,000 Covid payment
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
