Irish deputy PM says 'very unlikely' foreign summer holidays possible

DUBLIN, Jan 27 (Reuters) - It is "very unlikely" that Irish people will be able to go on foreign summer holidays this year as herd immunity is unlikely to have been achieved in time, Ireland's deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.

"I don't like to be the one to break the bad news but I think it's very unlikely that people will be able to go on foreign holidays this summer even if vaccines turn out to be as effective as we hope they can be," Leo Varadkar said in an interview with Virgin Media television.

He said under current rules it was against the law to go on a foreign holiday and the government's current assumption was that it might take the vaccination of 70-80% of the population to achieve herd immunity.

(Reporting by Conor Humphries Editing by Chris Reese)