Covid vaccines for under-50s to begin early next month

Tuesday 16 March 2021

Islanders aged under 50 will be able to receive jabs against covid-19 from next month.

The Government has today announced the second phase of the island's covid vaccination programme, which will involve immunising those aged 18 to 49 based on age groups.

All those aged 40-49 years will get their first dose in early April, those aged 30-39 years in early May and those aged 18-29 years in late May.

Islanders who have already received their first jab will continue to be invited to be given their second dose eight to 12 weeks later.

It is hoped that the entire adult population will have received both their jabs by September, although the Government has not ruled out further booster jabs before next winter, which will probably be dovetailed with the annual flu vaccination programme.

“The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation has strongly recommended prioritising the covid vaccine by decreasing age to ensure that those most at risk are vaccinated first. Age remains the main factor in determining risk, aside from other medical conditions," Deputy Medical Officer for Health, Dr Ivan Muscat MBE, explained. 

Pictured: Fort Regent will continue to be the main vaccination centre for the under-50s.

“In order to achieve immunity from this virus, and to help protect against variants, we must encourage Islanders to take up the vaccine offer as soon as they are eligible. 

“Immunity will not only help protect those who receive the vaccine, but also anyone they come into contact with, since there is more and more evidence that vaccination has a significant impact on viral transmission. 

“As with other vaccines - such as influenza- even when vaccination doesn’t prevent infection entirely it will reduce severity of infection and hospitalisation rates.

Vaccination Programme Lead Becky Sherrington said: “Our aim is to protect all islanders over the age of 18, and, depending on supply, we have capacity and resources to offer both vaccinations to these islanders by September. 

“While offering first doses of the vaccine to those under 50, we will continue vaccinating those from Phase 1, with their second dose. This means there will be times where we are intermittently switching between delivering first and second doses. The mass vaccination centre at Fort Regent will remain in place throughout this next phase.”

As of last Wednesday, more than 42,000 doses have been administered to the most vulnerable in the community. 

Jersey will continue to receive vaccines from the UK. At the moment, islanders receive either the Pfizer or the AstraZeneca vaccine, depending on supplies available. It is likely that some doses of the Moderna vaccine will be given from the end of next month.

The Government is continuing to give islanders the AstraZeneca vaccine despite some European countries halting its use to investigate reports that it causes blood clots. 

Dr Muscat said that all the evidence suggested that the vaccine was safe, and he was unaware of any reports of people in Jersey having a blood clot that was linked to the vaccine. 

Pictured: The AstraZeneca vaccine is still being given in Jersey.

He explained that there is around one case of DVT (deep vein thrombosis) per 1,000 every year, and that it may be that some of these 'usual' cases may be occurring in individuals who have had the vaccine.

To 28 February, he explained that the MHRA - the UK's health product regulator - said that there had been 37 reports of clots out of 10.7m doses of Pfizer vaccine given, and 32 out of 9.7m AstraZeneca doses. They had made it "very clear" there currently is no signal to indicate a relationship between a covid vaccine and blood clotting, Dr Muscat said.

The European Medicines Agency, meanwhile, will be scrutinising individual cases carefully and announcing its findings on Thursday. Those findings will be shared with the MHRA, whose guidance is followed in Jersey.