A senior Government minister has said now was the time to "boost the booster campaign" as the Department of Health confirmed four new Omicron cases have been detected.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week In Politics, Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris said an update on the programme would be published this week and there was an eagerness to move ahead with third injections for the over 40s.
Minister Harris said the Government's aim was to ensure 1.5 million people had received their booster by Christmas, adding that it is a race between the booster and the Omicron variant.
"Yes we should boost the booster campaign" says Minister @SimonHarrisTD
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On schools, Mr Harris said that nobody can guarantee anything in relation to the virus, adding that there is space to do more on ventilation in schools.
The minister said "we were too slow" on face masks and antigen testing at the start of the pandemic.
This afternoon, the Department of Health confirmed 4,667 new cases of Covid-19.
There are 504 people in hospital, up 23 since yesterday, of whom 109 are in ICU, down two.
The department also said that four additional cases of Omicron variant have been detected, bringing to 10 the total number of cases that have been identified following whole genome sequencing.
Another five confirmed cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been reported in Northern Ireland, according to the UK Health Security Agency. It brings the total number of confirmed Omicron cases there to 10.
There have been three further deaths linked to Covid-19 in Northern Ireland and an additional 1,548 positive cases, the Department of Health said.
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Thousands given booster jabs at walk-in clinics
Thousands of people have been given Covid-19 booster jabs at walk in HSE vaccination clinics across the country today.
Some had to queue for several hours to avail of the third dose of the vaccine, while other centres had little or no wait times, for those eligible for the jabs.
In Galway, inclement weather did not deter hundreds from travelling to the Racecourse from early this morning.
By this evening, some 1,500 had been given a third vaccination shot.
Paul Hooton, of the Saolta Hospital Group, said staff at the centre were doing "phenomenal work", with a steady stream of people aged between 60 and 69 being seen through the day.
Mr Hooton, who is leading the vaccination rollout across the west and northwest, said there were no concerns over vaccine supply and that the HSE was managing the logistics of people getting through the process.
Tomorrow, all vaccine centres across the region will be open to walk-ins from the 50- to 59-year-old age group, with a mix of appointment and walk in services from the rest of the week.
Mr Hooton appealed to anyone who got a scheduled booster appointment to use it if they could.
Vaccinators at Cork's City Hall recorded a second record day with 2,460 people getting the Covid-19 vaccine booster shot.
The vaccination centre opened just after 8.30am this morning as hundreds of people queued around the block along Old Station Road, Eglinton Street and onto Anglesea Street throughout the day.
Yesterday, the team administered 2,258 vaccine booster shots.
Another record day for vaccinators at #Cork's City Hall who administered 2,460 #Covid19 booster shots to the public between half past eight and half past four today. @RTEnews pic.twitter.com/OTCRJVL2rJ
— JennïeØSullivân (@OSullivanJennie) December 12, 2021
Indications from Government yesterday suggested that it is more than likely that boosters will begin to be made available to the 40 to 49 age cohort by the end of next week.
It would mean that people in this age group could get a booster if it is at least five months since they got a second vaccine dose.
Yesterday, the Chief Executive of the HSE said it expects to have administered around 1.5 million Covid-19 vaccine booster doses by Christmas.
Paul Reid said it "all depends on take-up" but that based on what the HSE is seeing, it does expect to be at around the 1.5 million mark.
He also said they "haven't publicly communicated out" in terms of the 40 to 49 age group.
Additional reporting: Pat McGrath, Jennie O'Sullivan
