Speaking to Dermot and Dave on Today FM, Varadkar said that, for holidays abroad to make a return, vaccine passports will most likely have to be incorporated.
He added that Ireland will be using the European Green Certificates, which he noted should be operational by July.
Now, Minister Byrne has said that he is optimistic international travel will return soon, as the EU prepares to pilot its Green Cert across June. The Digital Green Certificate will be either a QR code on your phone or a piece of paper, and we will actually have three certificates, one will be a vaccination certificate, there will also be a negative test certificate and a Covid recovery certificate and the idea is that it will facilitate and open up travel throughout the European Union when it is safe to do so, he said on Ireland AM on Thursday.
ROLLOUT RAMP-UP
Up to 280k to be vaccinated next week as timeline indicating jab date for all age groups also expected, HSE boss says
Updated: 13 May 2021, 19:56
THE country s vaccination rollout is set to ramp up next week as the HSE is planning for up to 280k vaccinations - while CEO Paul Reid said a timeline indicating jab dates for all age groups is also expected.
This comes as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly branded Leo Varadkar s end of June vaccine prediction as very ambitious and revealed it most likely two months too soon.
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HSE CEO Paul Reid said the health service continue to await Niac’s recommendations for the use of the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccinesCredit: Photocall Ireland
Europe is pressing ahead with it in terms of the technology side of it, he said. There will be more work to be done in terms of the application of these passports, but we want a European-wide, interoperable portal where people can register the fact that they have been vaccinated, that they had a negative PCR test or they have recovered from Covid. So, I think, that is the next stage. That is something Ireland is going to participate in - we are going to participate in that European-wide framework. We will work through this.
The Taoiseach also confirmed that Ireland could see the reopening of international travel by the end of summer, however, he said it will be dependent on the success of the vaccination programme and case numbers.