The Covid-19 vaccine portal has opened for people aged between 45 and 49 to register for their jab.
Registrations are being taken for 49-year-olds on Wednesday with 48-year-olds asked to register from Thursday and so on throughout the week.
Under the current plan, people in this group will be vaccinated with either a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
People who are considered high risk and health care staff who do not yet have an appointment have also been invited to apply for a jab.
It's expected that this cohort will begin receiving their jabs starting at the end of the month and into June.
Ireland's vaccine rollout continues to ramp up with the country with over two million doses administered to date.
The HSE is also still examining the operational implications for the strict conditions attached to rolling out the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) and AstraZeneca vaccines to people aged 40-49 years.
It’s understood the advice from NIAC includes the condition that the single-shot Johnson & Johnson jab and the AstraZeneca vaccine will only be given if an mRNA vaccine isn’t available at the time of vaccination.
Meanwhile, Government ministers have agreed to extend lockdown powers until November.
Most of the laws governing the stringent lockdown measures were due to lapse on June 9.
These include powers to impose fines, police quarantines and enforce travel bans.
There was an expectation that they would be extended out for another three months, to September 9, when it’s hoped the lockdowns will be well and truly finished with.
But the Government has gone further, and according to a Government spokesman, a “failsafe” date of November 9 has now been chosen and passed by the Cabinet.
The extension does not mean lockdowns will continue until that date, but it does give the Government the requisite powers to keep them going if they want - or to introduce regional or county lockdown extensions.
