Ten more deaths related to COVID-19 have been confirmed, as well as 646 new cases of the virus.

Of the 10 deaths, four occurred this month, one occurred in February, one in January and four are still under investigation. This brings the total number of deaths in the Republic to 4,518.

Of the 646 new cases, 243 occurred in Dublin, 80 in Kildare, 45 in Meath, 35 in Galway and 34 in Offaly. The total number of cases now stands at 225,820.

As of 8am on Friday, there were 344 patients with confirmed COVID-19 in hospital, 87 of whom were in ICU. There had been an additional 16 hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.

As of March 9, 553,161 doses of the COVID vaccine have been administered, including over 396,000 first doses.

Earlier, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) said that it had not changed its recommendations on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but would keep the situation under review.

This was in response to the news that some EU member states had suspended their use of the vaccine as a precautionary move.

"This action is based on a small number of reports of thromboembolic (clotting) events in people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has reviewed the available evidence and has stated that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh any potential risk and can continue to be used," the NIAC said in a statement.

It noted that the EMA is carrying out further detailed assessments on the vaccine. As well as this, the UK regulatory body has reviewed data following the use of 11 million doses of the vaccine in the UK. Based on this review, it has recommended no change to its use in the vaccination programme.

"The best vaccine to get is the one that you can get soonest. All vaccines are extremely effective in protecting against COVID-related hospitalisation and severe disease," commented NIAC chairperson, Prof Karina Butler.