Registration for Covid-19 vaccination will open for people aged 30 to 34 at the end of next week.

The HSE also said today it plans to deliver a "very ambitious" plan to speed up the roll out of vaccines to younger groups.

The plan, which has been sent to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, plans to offer hundreds of thousands of AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines that might have been surplus from later this month.

It comes in the face the threat of another serious wave triggered by the Delta variant.

HSE chief Paul Reid said today 45pc of the population are now fully vaccinated.

It plans to administer 330,000 doses this week.

He said "we need to remain alert" but there is also confidence amid evidence how well Covid-19 vaccinations are working.

He said the HSE is "highly committed to vaccinate as many people as possible with the supplies we get."

The number in hospital with Covid-19 remains stable at 44 with 14 patients in intensive care.

The fourteen day incidence of the virus per 100,000 remains under 100.

The median age of people who are getting the virus is 26, and more than 83pc of people are under 45.