The first Booster Certs will be issued this afternoon, the Government has confirmed.

The Department of Health said it will take a number of days to send out the certs to the 2.2 million people who have received their booster or third dose.

It encouraged people to check their email to ensure their updated cert has arrived.

The department said the updated are being issued ahead of new EU regulations that put a nine-month time limit on vaccine doses for international travel.

Yesterday, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin suggested the time limit would eventually be applied domestically – meaning people would need a booster to attend pubs and restaurants.

This afternoon however, the department said there are no plans to apply the time limit domestically.

The Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the booster rollout has been a “wonderful success” with uptake in Ireland the second highest in the EU.

The new certs will contain a QR code and can be uploaded to the COVID tracker App to replace the old cert.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, the Minister of State for eGovernment, Ossian Smyth said the vast majority of the certs would be sent by email.

Those who do not have an email address will receive a test message with step-by-step instructions for downloading their cert.