One of Ireland's leading immunologists Professor Luke O'Neill has revealed that he has tested positive for Covid-19.
The Trinity College Dublin professor said on Monday that he contracted the virus from a close contact last week.
The expert said he was feeling "pretty good" and had a "slight cough and some sniffles" but nothing too severe.
"The vaccine is protecting me," he said.
"I was a close contact, I was sent three tests by the HSE, took my second test on Friday and it came up positive.
"I got my PCR test on Saturday, got the result yesterday, which was positive, and now I'm stuck in isolation for the next few days."
Prof O'Neill believes he was a close contact around eight days ago of someone he works with and who informed him he had the virus.
"A close contact identified me, basically, having spent time with me at work," he told RTE's Today with Claire Byrne show.
"Within a day, the antigen tests began to arrive and every second day you take one.
"On day four, which was Friday, the test came up positive.
"I had no symptoms, to be honest, maybe some slight sniffles on Friday morning, but nothing major.
"It just shows the power of antigen testing because it came up very quickly I was able to stay home, which is what the testing is all about."
The band on the test indicating that he was positive "came up immediately", he explained, which shows he was a "strong positive".
Prof O'Neill added that it was "ironic" he had received his booster vaccine on Thursday, the day before he tested positive for Covid.
"It takes seven days for the booster to work and kick in so that was an ironic part of the story," he said.
"I've been boosted as well now so I'll be quadruply protected I feel, having the booster and the infection will really strengthen my immune system."
He doesn't know what strain of the virus he has, whether it is the Delta variant which is dominant in Ireland or the new Omicron variant.
He was told when getting his PCR test that they would not be assessing whether it was Omicron.
"I suspect they'll be measuring for Omicron from now on though given I imagine it will be the commonest one here," he added.
On Sunday, the Department of Health confirmed that four further Omicron infections had been detected in Ireland, bringing the total number of cases linked with the new strain here to ten.
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