Ireland has already vaccinated over 15,000 people against COVID-19, with a further 20,000 slated to get the jab before the end of the week.
That number comes less than two weeks after the first vaccination took place in Dublin, with 79-year-old Annie Lynch receiving her first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.
The Pfizer jab was approved at the end of December and rolled out at the beginning of this year, while the US-produced Moderna vaccine was approved just yesterday.
"In Ireland, the approach we're taking very clearly is that the only constraint on vaccinations will be the arrival of vaccines here in Ireland," said Health Minister Stephen Donnelly. "That's it. We're moving as fast as it is possible to move."
"We're not slow. Ireland has pre-ordered around 15 million or more doses of vaccine."
Donnelly said that 40,000 doses were arriving on Irish shores each week, with more to come as the EU approves different vaccines.
Ireland's vaccine rollout had been criticised in some circles for being slower than expected. At one point, only 1,800 Irish people had been inoculated when 40,000 in a similarly-sized EU country, Denmark, had already had the jab.
There have been problems across the EU in distributing the vaccine, with Brussels blaming the delays on the inability of manufacturers to keep up with demand.
"The reason for this bottleneck, for this shortage at the beginning of the vaccination campaign, is not too few quantities ordered, but rather the lack of production capacity," said German health minister Jens Spahn.
"It was clear from the beginning that we would have too little vaccine. It has been clear for many weeks and months. We (Germany) are in the same situation as all other countries in the EU and the world."
Now, with the Moderna vaccine also available for use, it is hoped that the speed of delivery will increase.
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