Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that this week will be "the biggest week yet" in terms of the vaccination roll-out. Over the course of this weekend, two-thirds of the eligible population will have received a first vaccine dose and one third will be considered fully vaccinated.
Mr Martin said 330,000 vaccines will be administered this week and the milestone of 3.5 million vaccine doses will also be reached.
The Taoiseach also paid tribute to all of those involved in the roll-out. He said that very good progress had been made in terms of reducing serious illness, with less than 2% of cases in the age cohort of over 65s.