The HSE's confirmed it's drawing up plans for a national network of clinics to be ready for a Covid-19 vaccine.
Several firms have already started production of their candidate vaccines in the hope of getting regulatory approval by the New Year.
Anthony Staines, professor of Health Systems at DCU, says there's fierce competition to be the first to market.
"What may be different from previous trials, we would do a phase 3 trial which is a big trial in the general population, and if it's successful we'd build the vaccine factories.
"In this situation we've actually built the vaccine factories, we've built factories capable of manufacturing several different types of vaccines.
"The hope is that the trials will confirm that those vaccines are worth producing - but nobody can guarantee that yet."
