Covid-19 and unvaccinated school children - what are the risks?

The success of the vaccine rollout in Ireland has exceeded even the most optimistic projections of earlier this year and has allowed the country to re-open and life to at least start returning to normal.

Booster shots are being planned for vulnerable older people and there is talk of scaling back the nationwide testing and tracing programme as the country prepares to live with Covid.

Virtually all pandemic restrictions will be lifted within weeks, but there are clouds on the horizon. The Delta variant is still spreading across the country with more than 1,300 cases being confirmed each day.

Meanwhile, for more than half a million children in primary schools and creches there is no vaccine and fears have been expressed that they are now the most at risk from the virus.