The country is experiencing a “high level” of Covid-19 with 1,837 new cases confirmed yesterday.

There were 208 people in hospital with Covid-19, an increase of 10 from Saturday’s figures, while there are 31 people in intensive care units (ICU), down two compared to Saturday.

The highest incidence rate of Covid-19 is now among young people aged between 16 and 34, the latest data shows.

The latest figures come as the registration portal for children aged between 12 and 15 will open this week.

Just 3pc of Covid-19 cases are now in people aged 65 years and over, according to deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn.

He said the incidence of Covid-19 in Ireland is “currently high”.

"There remains significant uncertainty in terms of the underlying trends, including the potential effect of the recent August bank holiday weekend on case numbers and referral patterns," he warned.

"With over 18,000 cases in the last fortnight, Ireland's 14-day incidence rate has now increased to 386 per 100,000 population, the highest it has been since the start of February.

"Incidence remains particularly high, above 500 per 100,000, in Donegal, Louth, Galway, Mayo and Monaghan.

"Although the link between cases and severe disease has been very substantially weakened through vaccination, it has not been completely broken and, unfortunately, due to the high incidence, we continue to see an increasing number of people in hospital.

"We are experiencing a high level of disease and the outlook over the coming days is uncertain.

"What is not uncertain, however, is that we can alter the course of this disease through the simple measures that we are all so familiar with.”

He urged people to continue to adhere to public health advice and said that vaccines are “fundamentally changing the risk profile of the disease here”. "What there is also no uncertainty about is the phenomenal uptake of Covid-19 vaccines by people of all ages across Ireland,” he said.

The latest figures show that around 90pc of people over the age of 16 have registered to receive a Covid-19 vaccine.

On Thursday, children aged between 12 and 15 can be registered to receive their first jab for the first time.

There are approximately 280,000 in this age group based on Central Statistics Office figures.

Under the plans, the HSE will primarily use the vaccination centres, but they said previously they are also going to work with GPs and pharmacies.

The move to extend the vaccination programme to a younger cohort meant the HSE needed to make significant enhancements to its IT system to facilitate the consent process.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly urged parents and young people to seek information from reliable sources such as the HSE website.

Meanwhile, this weekend saw more than 5,000 people visit walk-in vaccine centres around the country.

A total of 19 walk-in centres were open yesterday, with over 40 operating over the course of the weekend. Over the last bank holiday weekend, some 30,000 people received their first dose of the vaccine at walk-in clinics, the majority of them aged under 30.

HSE chief executive Paul Reid said 89pc of the population is now partially vaccinated. Ireland has the second-highest rate of vaccine uptake in the EU.

"Now over 89pc of adults are partially vaccinated and over 77pc fully. We're getting there," he said.

“We’re at a key juncture to path our way out of Covid-19. With 77pc of adults fully vaccinated, rising cases still pose a real threat.”