Ireland's Deputy Chief Medical Officer says the country has reached "another important milestone" in emerging from the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Ronan Glynn hailed the fact that almost 6.2 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered here to date.
New figures released by the HSE today show that of these, 3,447,303 first doses have been given while 2,744,768m people have received a second jab.
Some 88.2% of Irish citizens over the age of 16 have received the vaccine and of this group, 76% are fully vaccinated.
As for the overall population, almost 60% of the total population is now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to Professor Brian MacCraith, chairperson of the High Level Task Force on Covid-19 Vaccination.
Dr Glynn said that "with over six million vaccine doses administered to date, each week we reach another important milestone in our journey out of this pandemic".
It comes as the vaccine portal for children aged between 12 and 15 is set to open tomorrow, with the first of this cohort to receive their jabs within days.
Meanwhile, a further 1,819 cases of coronavirus were confirmed by NPHET this evening, with 206 people currently in hospital with the virus.
Dr Glynn commented:" “Vaccination, combined with basic public health measures, is the most effective way to protect the community against Covid-19. From tomorrow, registration for the COVID-19 vaccine programme opens for young people aged between 12 and 15 years of age."
He also aimed to assuage the fears of one group of people in particular who may be worried about taking the jab.
He urged pregnant women who are concerned about getting the vaccine to speak to their GP, obstetrician or midwife for guidance and for bespoke health advice for their pregnancies.
"Use trusted sources of information such as the HSE or Department of Health for the latest vaccine information," Dr Glynn added.
Yesterday, The Rotunda Hospital said that recently, there has been "a significant increase noted throughout Ireland in pregnant patients with severe Covid-19 illness".
The hospital issued a statement saying it would be maintaining restrictions on partners visiting expectant mothers "to help keep the women and babies attending our services safe".
Maintaining the restrictions are partly down to the low uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine in patients, it said.
The Rotunda added: "We have regularly surveyed inpatients in The Rotunda as to their vaccination status in order to give us an overview of vaccination rates in our patient cohort. Only 39% of inpatients are currently fully vaccinated, and only 41% of partners.
"Therefore, with 60% of our patients and their partners not fully being vaccinated, this represents a very serious risk and a very different setting to that seen in other general hospitals and the wider community. Covid-19 still poses a serious risk to our patients, their babies, and their partners."
The hospital added that because of its "challenging physical infrastructure" as the building is 275 years old, "it is not possible to ensure the minimum one metre physical distancing in many of our inpatient and outpatient areas".
