More than half of all Irish adults now have at least one Covid vaccine.
And one-quarter of all adults here are now FULLY vaccinated against the virus, latest figures show.
More than 3 million jabs have now been administered across the country.
It comes as the Government rushed through a new €4million package for local councils to roll out more portaloos and bins in outdoor areas ahead of the bank holiday weekend.
HSE boss Paul Reid today revealed that officials are currently drawing up the 29th version of the vaccine plan which will see the gap between Astrazeneca doses slashed from 12 weeks to just eight.
This would see tens of thousands of people fully vaccinated sooner than they expected – depending on supplies of the Astrazeneca jabs.
The National Immunisation Advisory Committee has called for the gap between doses of Astrazeneca to be shortened again due to fears about the Delta variant which originated in India.