Ireland has the fourth highest rate of Covid-19 in the EU - but it has the highest vaccine uptake in the bloc.
That's according to new figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
Only Slovenia, Lithuania and Estonia have higher 14-day incidence rates than the Republic, where 91% of adults are fully vaccinated.
Assistant professor of virology in UCD, Gerald Barry, says the new figures are very interesting.
"It's maybe a signal that complete reliance on vaccines to sort us out isn't enough.
"You wonder what is going to happen as we move into the winter.
"The hopeful view is that vaccines will protect us.
"But there's always that fear as we move into the winter that vaccination won't be enough basically, and case numbers will start to go up."
