Speaking at the Government’s weekly press briefing on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham said the covid-19 vaccination programme would cost around £5m and it would be given in a priority defined by international best practice.
Deputy Medical Officer of Health Dr Ivan Muscat, who is leading the island’s virus response, added: “We will not be making it mandatory but recommending it to all appropriate groups, in accordance with priorities set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.”
Pictured: Deputy Medical Officer of Health Dr Ivan Muscat.
He continued: “We anticipate the uptake will be very high indeed and once we reach 80%, there will be the necessary herd immunity in the community.”
At the briefing, Senator Farnham also revealed more details of the £100 that each islander will receive next month to spend locally.
All adults will receive a MasterCard while those aged under 16 will receive a non-credit card equivalent. The card will be accepted across the island but not online. It cannot be transferred to another user, nor can be exchanged for a cash equivalent.
Pictured: The £100 card which all Islanders will receive will be linked to MasterCard for adults.
Islanders will be asked to keep their card when the £100 is spent, in case the Government repeats the exercise in future.
Finally, Senator Farnham gave a few more details of the testing laboratory that arrived in the island this week.
The lab, which has cost £3m to bring over, initially for three months, will be based near the Jersey Aero Club at the Airport.
Pictured: The lab will be based near the Jersey Aero Club.
Once fully operational, it will be able to process 2,000 tests a day and provide results within 12 hours.