“We will roll it out quickly.”

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has announced that a further booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine will be offered to those in need of it as soon as possible.

According to the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC), a fourth dose of the vaccine should be made available to people aged over 65.

NIAC has also recommended a second booster shot should be made available to those aged 12 and older who are immunocompromised and children aged five to 11 who are immunocompromised.

📢Today we’re announcing that those aged 65 years and older and those who are immunocompromised should receive a further booster dose of COVID-19 Vaccine following advice from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee. pic.twitter.com/h364UG0xfE

— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) April 6, 2022

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Minister Donnelly said plans are already underway to get the next booster delivered.

“NIAC has advised ideally that there would be a six-month gap between this new booster and the last one, but it could be four months where that is appropriate.

“So we’ll be looking to put that in place now, very quickly with HSE,” he said.

The Health Protection Surveillance Centre was notified of 2,743 PCR-confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. In addition, on Monday, April 4th, 4,990 people registered a positive antigen test through the HSE portal.

A total. of 1,360 COVID-19 patients are currently hospitalised, of whom 54 are in ICU.