The number of people who have died with Covid-19 since the virus was first recorded in Ireland has surpassed 7,000, while a further 2,837 new cases of the virus have been confirmed today.
A total of 1,236 new cases were confirmed through PCR testing, while 1,601 positive antigen tests were logged online through the HSE portal.
The total number of deaths due to Covid-19 up to yesterday was 7,016.
However, the latest figures from the Health Service Executive also show that the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 continues to decline.
As of 8am, there were 477 people in hospital with the virus, down 58 on the same time yesterday. ]
Of these, there were 33 people in ICUs with Covid-19, compared to 43 at the same time yesterday.
The number of patients with the virus in critical care is down almost half (43%) since this time two weeks ago, when there were 58 people with Covid-19 in intensive care units.
It comes as those aged over 65 are now eligible for a fourth dose of a vaccine.
Chair of the Irish Medical Organisation's GP sub-committee Dr Denis McCauley said people who are being targeted for the booster are those that are more at risk of getting very sick and those with compromised immune systems.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the Donegal-based GP said: "The evidence really is just so clear that the vaccines really prevent you from getting serious disease from going into ICU, and from dying".
A high proportion of those people that have had very serious cases of Covid have been unvaccinated or have not had a booster, he said.
Dr McCauley said GPs have different rollout programmes for the booster.
Some GPs are administering the jabs, but some are not, however vaccinations are available through vaccination centres and pharmacies too.
Most of the boosters being offered are the Moderna vaccine and are the same type of vaccine as Pfizer.
They are the same "class of vaccine", he said, as they are both mRNAs.
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Dr McCauley said people should not be hesitant about getting the booster.
"I want them to walk over the actual threshold of their GP surgery [with the] knowledge that this is the same class of vaccine as the Pfizer vaccine, and I think that there is no increased risk of any further reactions at all".
He said that within the next two weeks GPs will be receiving the vaccines and people will be able to get the booster jab.
