The Department of Health has reported a further 1,110 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
It said there are 89 patients in hospital, down 12 from yesterday. There are 21 people in ICU, which is up one from yesterday.
There now appears to be less of a link between cases and hospitalisations, partly due to the impact of vaccination, but health experts will be watching the situation closely.
Separately, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said this evening that all those aged 18 and over can register for an mRNA vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna, from tomorrow.
He said this is because the vaccination programme is "ahead of schedule and continues to perform really well".
On the latest Covid-19 figures, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: "Almost 7,700 cases of Covid-19 have been notified in the last seven days, an increase of 88% on the previous week.
"Incidence rates have increased in every county over the past seven days.
"The counties with the highest 14-day incidence rates are Donegal (725/100,000 population), Louth (474/100,000 population), Dublin (307/100,000 population), Limerick (258/100,000) and Galway (257/100,000).
"During this spell of fine weather, we know that the vast majority of people are continuing to protect themselves and others by following the public health advice.
"This remains really important as we seek to protect as many people as possible through vaccination over the coming weeks.
"As we have said since the vaccine programme began, Covid-19 vaccines are extraordinarily effective at reducing each person's individual risk of hospitalisation or severe disease.
"Vaccines along with the core public health advice remain our pathway out of this pandemic - please avail of the opportunity to get protected through vaccination when it is offered to you."
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This evening, the Director of Public Health for HSE West urged young unvaccinated adults in parts of Counties Mayo and Galway to contact their pharmacist to put their names on the vaccination list, as the infection rate is increasing rapidly.
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime, Dr Breda Smyth said they're seeing a very high incidence rate within the younger population in the West, which is 500-600 per 100,000 population.
She said over the past 5-7 days, they've seen a very large increase in their case numbers, which have trebled from 50 cases to 150 in that time. 17:06
She said they've also seen a dramatic increase in the positivity rate in their walk-in centres. For example, in Galway city it's increased from 8.8% on Friday to 14% today.
She urged people with any symptoms, regardless of how mild they are, not to go to work and she also advised parents of young children who have mild symptoms not to send their children to summer camps.
Hospitalisations among those vaccinated
Meanwhile, the Chief Operations Officer with the Health Service Executive has said about one in five people being admitted to hospital who are Covid positive are vaccinated.
However, Anne O'Connor told RTÉ's News at One that these patients' outcomes are better.
She said: "In the general population, in terms of people testing positive, who are vaccinated, that number is rising from 7% on Sunday to 10% yesterday.
"Within our hospital services, in terms of admitted patients, it's about one in five, in terms of people who are admitted with Covid who are vaccinated."
Some of our #COVID19 swabbing sites now have up to 25% positives on testing & many counties at 10%. The more widespread it is in the community, the more it can breakthrough to those vaccinated. For a few weeks, let's all take care, aim to see this off & reduce illness. @HSELive
— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) July 20, 2021
However, she added: "The vaccine has transformed the disease progression, so even for people who are admitted to hospital, who are vaccinated, their outcomes are better, so they're not becoming as sick, so that is a really positive thing."
Ms O'Connor said they were concerned about the increasing number of people who are testing positive, with the positivity rate in the community at about 9%.
Ms O'Connor said a Covid-19 outbreak in Mayo Hospital accounts for 16 cases. She said it is a very busy hospital, "so having that number of Covid positive people in hospital, puts a very significant demand on the services there".
Ms O'Connor said the higher community transmission rate in the northwest will drive more admissions into Letterkenny Hospital.
She said not everyone who is being admitted to hospital is being admitted because they are Covid positive, adding that their admission may be for another reason and they happen to be Covid positive as well.
Ms O'Connor told the programme in every surge so far they have seen that the higher community transmission rate will drive more hospital admissions.
In the past 24 hours, she said, 16 people who were Covid positive were admitted to hospital.
She said that compared to previous surges there is a greater spread in age groups of those coming in who are Covid positive.
Ms O'Connor said this morning at 8am, 89 people in acute hospitals were Covid positive, which is down from 101 yesterday morning, and 20 of those are in ICU.
She said the country's hospitals are very busy between patients arriving at emergency departments and people coming in for often long awaited procedures.
Ms O'Connor said this morning nearly 670 people were in the emergency departments around the country.
