WATCH: Fort Regent to be used as mass vaccination centre

Friday 27 November 2020

Care homes residents will be the first to receive the covid-19 vaccine when it becomes available, with other islanders receiving it at a later date from a mass vaccination centre which will be set up inside the Queen’s Hall in Fort Regent.

No delivery date has yet been confirmed, but the Government announced today it was ready to deploy its covid-19 vaccine programme in December if needed.

It is unclear how many doses of vaccine will be delivered to the island, but the Government is expecting them to arrive in “successive small quantities."

Video: The Chief Minister and Health Minister announced the covid-19 vaccine programme today.

“We are not in a position to say exactly how much we are going to get because we’re not exactly sure how much we will be sent,” Dr Ivan Muscat, the Deputy Medical Officer of Heath, said.

“We have been told however that we will be sent an amount proportionate to our population at the same time as central government UK send it to the periphery of the UK. So, we will simply be in this sense an appendage of the UK, we will be getting the same amount, at the same time but in proportion to our population. 

“We can’t make that happen sooner, we can’t increase our number, it’s proportionately to what they are receiving. We have to work with them on that but they will act fairly with us, of course.”

Pictured: Care homes residents will be the first to receive the vaccine.

The Government have come up with a Tier system designating the order in which the vaccine will be distributed. As the Head of Policy for Covid Vaccine Delivery, Becky Sherrington, said the priority groups are based on age as it is the biggest risk factor for covid-19.

The approximately 1,000 residents of nursing and residential homes will be receiving it first with a mobile unit visiting all care homes to administer the vaccine. 

Staff from care homes and home care staff will then follow and will be asked to visit the mass vaccination centre at the Queen’s Hall in Fort Regent.

The Head of Policy for Covid Vaccine Delivery, Becky Sherrington, explained that Fort Regent had been chosen as the venue as it allows enough room for physical distancing and the storage of the necessary equipment. 

Pictured: The vaccine will be distributed in a staggered process.

Islanders over the age of 80 along with the nearly 5,000 front line Health and Community Services staff and other Health and Community Services staff, GPs and pharmacists will form the second tier. 

Next will be islanders between the age of 75 and 65 and the 3,000 people considered at high risk. They will be followed by Tier 4 which will include younger people aged 50-64.

The rest of the population will form Tier 5 but it is unclear what age groups will be involved. 

Due to the lack of research having been done in children, the vaccine will not be offered to under 18s.

Both Dr Muscat and the Health Minister, Deputy Richard Renouf, urged islanders to have the vaccine when it becomes available.

Pictured: Deputy Richard Renouf, the Health Minister, encouraged "as many people as possible to be vaccinated".

“Vaccines save lives,” the Deputy Medical Officer of Heath said. “They are one of the most effective public health interventions in the world and are hugely important in protecting us against infection. 

“A safe and effective COVID vaccine is by far the best way to protect those at particular risk from this virus and is the biggest breakthrough since the pandemic began. It is a complete game-changer." 

“We stand a much better chance of returning to some normality by Easter if islanders continue to take care throughout the winter, adhere to Public Health guidance, and get the vaccine when it is offered to you.”

Deputy Renouf assured the Government will only deploy the vaccine once it has passed clinical trials. “We are hoping some vaccines will arrive before the end of the year and we will be ready for that if it happens,” he said.

“We would strongly encourage as many people as possible to be vaccinated, as this is how we can start returning to normal life.”