Reporting by Muireann Duffy and Aoife Kearns
The Department of Health is reporting 227 additional cases of Covid-19 and five deaths.
There are 8 additional cases of the virus in Waterford and the incidence rate in Waterford is now 78.3.
That's compared to the national 14-day incidence rate of 79.5.
Of today's figures, 98 were men, 129 were women and 64 per cent were under the age of 45.
Dublin accounted for 70 of the cases, while there were 26 in Donegal, 19 in Limerick and 14 in both Louth and Kilkenny.
The remaining 84 cases were spread across 17 other counties including Waterford.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan says there were 8 new admissions into ICU today, which is the highest in a 24-hour period since spring.
Todays' figures bring the total case numbers in the Republic to 74,900 and the death toll to 2,102.
In the North, another 483 people have tested positive for the virus, while 12 patients have died.
This evening, Canada has become the second country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
After receiving the application for approval on October 9th, Health Canada determined it meets the Department's stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in the country.
This follows news earlier today that regulators in the UK have issued a warning after two people who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine yesterday suffered allergic reactions.
The National Health Services in England confirmed two healthcare workers experienced reactions following their vaccination, both of whom have a significant history of allergic reaction.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has since advised people who have a history of 'significant' allergic reactions to avoid receiving the vaccine for the time being.
In Ireland, Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has announced that self-employed people will be able to claim the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) so long as they do no make more than €960 over two months.
This marks a change from the current €480 a month limit, taking into account that some might do a once-off job, such as a gig for musicians, which may put them over the monthly limit, yet they may have no income the following month.
Minister Humphreys added it would also ensure the likes of taxi drivers who have busy weeks over Christmas could still get access to the payments.
