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Vaccination rollout adapts to meet Island's needs

Fri, 12 Mar 2021

An at-a-glance overview of the current progress of the Island’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is available to the public in a new table published online.

The table sets out the vaccination rollout status for Phase 1 priority groups - adults over the age of 50 and the clinically vulnerable - showing the percentage of people in each group already vaccinated and the anticipated timeline for invitations to be sent to those groups awaiting their call for a jab.

The vaccination programme stepped up a gear this week, with more than 1000 people per day being protected from serious illness caused by COIVD-19 through the Island’s two vaccination hubs. By the end of the week, more than 20,000 first doses will have been given to the most vulnerable in the community, including all those in the top priority group - care home residents and staff - and more than 80% in the next two groups - the over 80s and front line health and care workers, and those aged 75-80. 

The rollout of vaccine will be further expanded in the coming weeks as the programme moves to extend the gap between the two doses of Pfizer vaccine from three weeks to a maximum of 10, mirroring the dose interval already in place for the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. The decision has been made in light of increasing evidence in support of extending dose intervals for both vaccines, for a wider short-term public health impact, and after careful consideration of the Island’s needs. 

Minister for Health and Social Care David Ashford said: ‘We have always been concerned to keep sufficient vaccine in hand to give the second dose to those who have had their first jab. Longer intervals will mean we use our stock sooner, but we will get vaccine into the arms of an overall larger number of people as stocks are replenished, so it is a balanced decision. We will continue to monitor our vaccine delivery schedule closely and adjust our modelling and rollout to best meet the Island’s needs.’

He added: ‘The programme is progressing well at an incredibly busy time for colleagues across DHSC and more widely in government, as we respond to the unwelcome consequences of the spread of the virus in our community. We aim to provide as much information as we can about our plans – which are subject of course, to delivery of vaccine. People can now check the vaccination rollout progress table, which will be regularly updated, to see how we are doing overall and when we expect to vaccinate the next priority groups.’ 

The [up to] 10 week interval for Pfizer is being introduced into appointment timetables and will apply to those whose second dose has not yet been booked, and to future appointments. The change won’t affect people who already have an appointment for their second dose of Pfizer vaccine, which will go ahead as planned.

Residents who are concerned that they have not received an invitation letter can check by emailing the Family Practitioner Service at FPS@gov.im  Any clinical queries should be raised by the individual with their GP.

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