The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has on Friday evening been notified of 4,620 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
As of 8am, 571 Covid-19 patients were hospitalised, and 118 of them were in ICU.
Meanwhile, the North's Department of Health reported nine further deaths with Covid-19 and an additional 2,004 new positive cases.
Hospitals in Northern Ireland are treating 370 patients with Covid-19, with 33 in intensive care.
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Everybody over the age of 16 in the Republic will now be offered booster shots following a decision by the Department of Health based on advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac).
The booster shot will be offered in order of preference to pregnant women first, then those aged 40 to 49 and finally those aged between 16 and 39 in descending order starting with the oldest first.
They will receive their extra jab in these cohorts at least five months after their last vaccine, but, in the case of those who have been given the one shot Janssen vaccine, the gap will be at least three months.
Those who have had Covid-19 after being fully vaccinated before will have to wait at least six months following infection to receive their dose.
It now means that everybody over the age of 16 will be offered a booster as Niac has already approved the shots for everybody who is 50 or over.
Booster shots were first recommended for those over 80 or those over the age of 65 in nursing homes in September. Last month the programme was extended to 60 to 79 year olds and on November 15th to those between 50 and 59.
This advice received by Niac reflects the recommendations made in respect of booster doses in the latest European Centre of Disease Control (ECDC) rapid risk assessment which recommends that countries should consider a booster dose for all adults with priority being given to people aged 40 years of age and above.
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said it will be some time before the new cohorts get their vaccine as they have not reached the recommended gap since the second dose. .
“We continue to prioritise boosters because we know that they are having a positive impact on the level of hospitalisation, severe illness and mortality from Covid-19 in those aged over 70,” Mr Donnelly said.
The HSE has started offering walk-in clinics for Covid-19 booster vaccines to people in their 60s and to healthcare workers at designated times through its vaccination centres.
In a speed-up of the booster programme, the walk-in clinics will be available to eligible groups once it has been at least five months since their second dose of a Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca jab in their initial vaccinations, or three months since the individual received the single Janssen vaccine.
The booster rollout will also be accelerated for those who are in their 60s.
Damien McCallion, the HSE’s national lead for vaccinations and testing, said that many of the 470,000 people in their 60s will only become eligible for boosters over the coming weeks.
The walk-in clinics will allow the HSE to administer booster doses more quickly. Details of the times and locations of the walk-in vaccinations are available on the HSE’s website.
“We are very conscious that life has moved on for many people and it isn’t always possible for people to come forward on an appointment basis,” he told the weekly HSE briefing.
