The head of the Health Service Executive has said that only 1.1 million vaccine doses are likely to arrive in Ireland in the first three months of this year.
The original expectation by the HSE was to have 1.24 million doses by the same period.
Paul Reid told the Oireachtas Health Committee there was a large number of vaccines, around 175,000, expected on the last day of March and delays meant the 1.2m target would not be reached until the first week of April.
He said that an original figure of 1.7m doses was based on advance purchase agreements with manufacturers, this was then adjusted to a target of 1.4m and then lowered again to 1.24m.
Reid said the operating plan had already been changed 15 to 17 times due to supply problems and changes to sequencing and prioritisation.