Fully vaccinated people only a "small proportion" of covid cases

Wednesday 23 June 2021

Vaccination is "very much doing its job", according to the island's top pandemic medic, with just 10% of the Jersey's current covid cases being fully vaccinated individuals.

At a press conference this afternoon, Dr Ivan Muscat MBE confirmed that 81 people were officially recorded as having the virus in Jersey - 58 of which were aged between 10 and 29.

Further breaking down the cases, Dr Muscat said that:

• 57 had not had the vaccination.

• 13 have had their first vaccine.

• Three have had both doses of the vaccine, but caught the virus within two weeks of their second dose, when it wasn't fully effective.

• Eight had both doses of the vaccine and contracted the virus two weeks after their second jab.

"Only 10% of all the cases we currently have had full vaccination, which compares with the 59% of individuals we know are fully vaccinated - so they’re a small proportion of those affected - so vaccination is very much doing its job," Dr Muscat he added.

He said that all individuals that had tested positive so far had been able to be traced back to a source, although he didn't expect this would remain the case over the coming weeks.

Of those identified over the past 24 hours, the majority (12) were identified through seeking healthcare, and four had been contact traced.

Since Tuesday 22 June, 2 individuals have recovered and 17 new cases have been identified. 12 cases have been identified through seeking healthcare, 1 case has been identified through inbound travel, 4 cases have been identified through contact tracing. pic.twitter.com/fl4t5KJra3

— Government of Jersey (@GovJersey) June 23, 2021

Earlier today, it was confirmed that nine schoolchildren currently have the virus, and three early years children - as a result of some of these cases, children across three year groups at Victoria College have had to isolate. 

The latest figures came as the Government announced that isolation rules will be relaxed for fully vaccinated islanders - with immediate effect, any islander who has had both jabs and has been a direct contact of someone with the virus, will only have to isolate until they receive their first negative result. 

These same isolation rules will also apply to anyone identified as a direct contact in travel-related circumstances. 

Public Health is currently considering a different set of rules for children, which will be put before Ministers next week. The Government has declined to confirm what options it is looking at, but says it is weighing up the risk of covid infection and its potential long-term impact with mental health concerns.