A catch-up vaccination programme for the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine will get under way this month, the Health Service Executive has confirmed.
In a statement to RTÉ News, the HSE said: "We are aiming to commence [the programme] following the St Patrick's bank holiday weekend.
"It will prioritise children and young adults, healthcare workers and under-served groups such as refugees, applicants seeking protection and the homeless community."
The HSE said uptake rates were currently lower in these groups.
Earlier this week, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced that the Government had agreed funding for an MMR catch-up vaccination programme.
Vaccinations will be administered by GPs and HSE vaccination teams.
The MMR vaccine will be offered free of charge to over 300,000 people who may not have received it in childhood.
It comes after the Health Protection Surveillance Centre yesterday confirmed it had identified a measles case in the west of the country.
It is the second such case of the infectious disease this year.
In February, a man in his 40s from Westmeath died after contracting measles.
The measles jab in Ireland is given as part of the combined Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Two doses of MMR vaccine are included in the HSE's childhood immunisation schedule:
MMR Dose 1, given at 12 months of age in general practice.
MMR Dose 2, given at 4-5 years of age in junior infants in Primary Schools, by HSE school immunisation teams (or GPs in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal).
MMR uptake in Ireland is currently less than the 95% target set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO has warned about the increased risk of measles infections in children because of suboptimal MMR vaccination uptake rates following reductions in immunisation coverage.
In Ireland, it is estimated that around 11% of the population aged 18-34 are not immune to measles.
The symptoms of measles include cold-like symptoms such as aches and pains, a runny nose, sneezing and a cough or a rash, which usually appears on head and neck first and spreads to the rest of body.
Current public health advice indicates that those born in Ireland before 1978 are unlikely to require the MMR vaccine.
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'High likelihood we will see more cases'
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the Clinical Lead for Infection Control at the Irish College of General Practitioners has said that as the vaccination rate for MMR has fallen to below 90%, there is "a high likelihood that we will see more cases" of measles.
Dr Scott Walkin, who is also a GP in Ballina, Co Mayo, said as measles is so contagious, in an unvaccinated population a case can infect up to 18 other people.
In relation to parents perhaps not wanting to vaccinate their children, he said "there is a lot of vaccine fatigue".
"We've had a lot of vaccines lately. And the other thing that happens with vaccines is that they tend to become a victim of their own success," Dr Walkin said.
"They're so incredibly effective at preventing measles that people start to forget how serious measles can be.
"So yes, there is a concern nationally about low uptake rates of MMR, but hopefully this campaign will help to reverse that."
