NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

Ray O'Connor, 4, from Dublin enjoys puddles at the Botanic Gardens in Dublin this morning. Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie Sam Boal / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• Public health officials confirmed 26 deaths and 988 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
• Northern Ireland recorded three deaths and 276 Covid-19 cases in its latest update this afternoon.
• Pubs and restaurants are unlikely to reopen before the middle of summer, the Taoiseach said.
• The government is to consider a potential plan to raise the position of people with underlying health conditions on the vaccine priority list.
• Gardaí seized an estimated €80,000 worth of cannabis and arrested two people after searching a property in Co Mayo
• A top criminal defence solicitor was charged with assaulting and injuring a former colleague in Dublin.
• The Irish Air Corps delivered the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines to the Aran Islands and Arranmore Islands.
• The Taoiseach said the government will “engage” with former president Mary Robinson over the case of Dubai princess Sheikha Latifa.
• The details of a meeting between the Taoiseach and US President Joe Biden are still being “ironed out”.

THE WORLD

Police charge forward to disperse protesters in Mandalay, Myanmar PA Images PA Images

#VACCINES The number of vaccine doses against Covid-19 administered worldwide passed 200 million.

#DEPORTED The US deported a 95-year-old former Nazi concentration camp guard to Germany in what is “possibly the last” because of the low numbers still alive

#SHOT Two protesters were shot and killed by riot police in Myanmar.

#APPEAL A Moscow Court upheld a ruling to jail the Kremlin’s most prominent opponent Alexei Navalny.

PARTING SHOT

Nearly two months since the first Covid-19 vaccine was given in Ireland, there are plenty of questions about how well the programme is doing and how far we still need to go.

The latest episode of TheJournal.ie’s The Explainer podcast looks at who has been vaccinated so far, how people in the next priority group will get their vaccine, the role of GPs and what it’s like to get the vaccine.

Listen back on Spotify here or Apple Podcasts here.