Covid vaccinations for people aged between 65 and 69 will begin from Monday, the chief executive of the HSE has said.
In a tweet posted on Sunday morning, Paul Reid said 85,000 people from the age group have already registered to get the jab.
“Based on supplies, we'll promptly move to those [aged] 60-64 and then further down through the ages,” he said.
Today, those aged 66-69 are registering for vaccination. 85,000 in this group have already registered. From tomorrow, we'll commence the vaccinations for those aged 65-69. Based on supplies, we'll promptly move to those 60-64 and then further down through the ages. @HSELive
— Paul Reid (@paulreiddublin) April 18, 2021
From Sunday, 66-year-olds can register through the HSE portal online or by phone.
More than 838,000 people in the Republic have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, official data shows, after a daily record of 33,500 doses were administered on Thursday.
Almost 350,000 people have had both doses of a vaccine.
Mr Reid said the number of people falling ill and dying with Covid-19 has been “radically reduced” as the vaccine programme ramps up.
The update comes after a double setback to the vaccine rollout earlier this week – health experts recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine only be given to people over 60, and delays to the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine over safety concerns were announced.
In the North, more than 855,000 people had received their first jab by April 16th, while over 260,000 are fully vaccinated.
Vaccinations have been extended to people aged 40 to 44 in Northern Ireland.
This means about 22.2 per cent of the Republic's adult population (aged 18 and over) has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, compared to 58.9 per cent in the North.
