Pharmacists are calling on the Government to ensure they're included in plans to roll out Covid 19 vaccines.
The Irish Pharmacy Union's members want to help vaccinate the population and can carry out 10,000 vaccines per day at least.
It says a safe and effective vaccine could arrive within weeks, but it will still take time to ensure a vaccination programme is rolled out.
Secretary General of the union, Darragh O'Loughlin says pharmacists can also help ease the burden on GPs.
"The more people that can get their vaccine from a pharmacy the fewer people will be looking for it elsewhere.
"We know GPs are inundated with work at the moment, they're overwhelmed their workload issues so hight at the moment.
"Pharmacists are also incredibly busy, it's a very difficult time for everybody in healthcare.
"That's why everybody who is involved in healthcare needs to get involved in the vaccination as well, it's too much to expect one group to do it on their own."
