Chief Medical Officer Professor Breda Smyth has encouraged people who are eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine to avail of the option in the coming weeks.
The Department of Health says that a new variant of the virus, known as Eris, has been detected in Ireland and is impacting health services.
It says the latest variant, BA.2.86 has not yet been detected in Ireland, although a small number of cases have been detected in the UK, the US, and Denmark.
The variant is notable due to a high number of mutations.
"Covid is still in our environment. It's still in our community and it is behaving like we would expect a virus to behave," Prof Smyth told RTÉ's News at One.
"It is mutating, and it is evolving.
"We’re not in a pandemic. We are in a situation where we are living with Covid and we will continue to do so, but it is a good opportunity for us to consider what we’re heading into.
"We will be heading into a multi-pathogenic winter with Covid and with flu and possibly RSV," Professor Smyth said, adding that she "recommended" that people avail of the vaccine.
"It is recommended for all adults over the age of 50 years and also individuals between the ages of 5 to 49 who have underlying conditions.
"This will be rolled out towards the end of September in line with our flu vaccination programme.
"It is one of the best ways of protecting yourself against the Covid virus and as a result protecting those around you.
"All of these vaccines have protection across all of the sub variants."
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Prof Smyth also said that the recommendation for people who have Covid-19 symptoms is to stay at home from work for 48 hours.
"It is a standard recommendation with regard to respiratory virus. From a workplace perspective it supports employers by not bringing infection into the workplace."
