THE NATIONAL IMMUNISATION Advisory Committee (NIAC) is considering whether people under 65 should be invited to get a second booster shot of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said today that NIAC was “giving consideration” to the matter, but that “it’s a matter for NIAC to come back and advise the government”.

The second booster shot is currently being offered to people over 65 and people who are immunosuppressed.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting today, Martin said that take-up of the first booster shot was not as high as the initial vaccination campaigns. “I would appeal to people in that category to take up the booster,” he said.

The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital is increasing, in part due to new subvariants of Omicron.

The HSE’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr Colm Henry said yesterday: “The harsh reality is if you look at hospitalised cases … Over half have not received their booster and over a third not vaccinated have not even [been] vaccinated in the first place.

“We don’t want Covid to get through to those people if they haven’t got Covid yet because they’re particularly vulnerable – not just to infection, but to serious illness.”

“It’s not too late to get vaccinated,” Henry added.