Six EU countries now have a higher take-up of Covid boosters than Ireland.
56 per cent of the Republic's total population have had an extra dose.
Malta has the highest rate, at 65 per cent, while Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy and Portugal also have higher rates than Ireland.
The HSE's lead for vaccinations, Damien McCallion, says our take-up has slowed in recent weeks:
"Ireland had very high numbers in European terms, and we also had the onset of the new variant probably earlier than other European countries. We are seeing those other countries now starting to catch up. But again, we've typically been in the top three or four countries in Europe for our booster programme. Now, I think we were definitely impacted by the numbers of people who were positive through that Christmas and New Year period. We know there were very high numbers."
