Ireland has the second-highest percentage uptake of Covid vaccine boosters.
That is according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
It comes as the Government urges anyone eligible to get a booster this week, with over 200,000 doses at risk of being thrown away at the end of the month due to expiry.
Ireland's 65 per cent uptake comes second only to Denmark's 67.2 per cent.
Dr Denis McCauley, chair of the GP committee of the Irish Medical Organisation, said the reason stocks on hand were so high was because so many people got the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
He also said “some apathy” among under-25s was a reason for unused booster vaccines.
HSE chief executive Paul Reid has encouraged to people to keep availing of booster vaccines.
"We had a window of opportunity in our booster vaccination programme against Omicron," he said. "This gave added protection to the vulnerable and to all of us to alleviate the effect. But it's still key that everyone comes forward for their boosters. We want to see this through."
