People who have appointments for Covid-19 vaccinations or tests are being encouraged to show up as they are going ahead as planned, despite the ransomware cyber-attack on the HSE's IT systems launched yesterday.
Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday with Katie Hannon programme, HSE Chief Executive Paul Reid said the automated referral from GPs is not functioning but people can go to any of the HSE Covid-19 test sites.
He said close contacts will still be contacted by someone from the contact tracing team and people will get their results as standard.
Mr Reid said the HSE took the online vaccination system offline for a short time yesterday as it wanted to ensure it was stable following the ransomware attack.
He said it is functioning perfectly and urged everyone over the age of 50 to 69 who still needs to register to do so.
The HSE is on target to have administered 250,000 doses by the end of this week, he said.
Overall, 1.5 million people have had their first dose while 11% of the population have had their second dose.
"There is always brief period before moving into the next age group which is the 40s, so later next week that information will be given."
He also said the HSE is expecting notification from the Chief Medical Officer on the National Immunisation Advisory Committee advice that will be given on the use of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
The Department of Health has said there will be no daily Covid-19 figures update provided today due to the ransomware attack.
Backdated figures will be published "when possible", the Department added.
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