Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has warned the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 is remaining high as almost 20,000 positive tests have been recorded.
He said thousands of positive tests are still being confirmed every day which is having a “knock on effect” on hospitals.
Over the last three days, 19,852 Covid positive cases have been recorded by NPHET.
On Monday, 808 Covid-19 patients were in hospital and 47 were in ICU.
Minister Donnelly has also said it’s likely people will get annual Covid-19 vaccines.
When asked about a fourth jab for the population, Minister Donnelly said he is expecting advice on the matter from the State’s vaccine advisory body, NIAC soon.
He said: “I think it’s entirely possible that NIAC will come back and say that for all of us there will be an annual vaccine so you might get your flu and Covid vaccine at the same time.
“I’m expecting a view from NIAC shortly on a fourth vaccine for those who are more vulnerable.”
He said one of the challenges facing hospitals is that certain sections of the emergency departments or wards have to be used only for Covid-19 patients which is impacting capacity for other issues.
He said: “We’re through the Omicron wave.
“We’re still dealing with an awful lot of it, we’re dealing with many thousands of cases being confirmed by PCR every day and rapid testing.
“We’ve still got a lot of people in hospital, we’ve still got a number of people in ICU.
“Thankfully the numbers in ICU are falling but the numbers in hospital are actually staying reasonably high.
“It’s still having a very significant knock on effect on the system.
“In Limerick for example, the emergency department is under really significant pressure at the moment.
“One of the challenges they have is there are beds in the hospital that have to be used for covid patients..entire areas of emergency departments given over to the Covid track and we want to be able to move beyond that..”
