Public Health waits to learn which vaccine island will get

Interim data suggested 70% protection, which is much better than the seasonal flu jab.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which were announced earlier showed 95% protection.

However, the Oxford jab is cheaper and easier to store and therefore better to get to every corner of the world than the other two.

In a trial of more than 20,000 volunteers, nobody getting the vaccine developed severe Covid or needed hospital treatment.

It is thought that by tweaking the dosage, the protection rate could go up to 90%, as was seen in analysis of about 3,000 people who were given a half-sized first dose and a full-sized second dose.

The States has been working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England, who have provided expert advice and support around this new vaccine delivery model in line with the recommendations from the UK’s Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation.

It will be for the JCVI to consider the vaccine that has been developed by the University of Oxford team, after it has been looked into and checked by regulators.

‘We currently have no confirmation on which vaccine we will receive,’ a Health & Social Care spokesman said.

‘The UK government has developed a large vaccine portfolio and we await further vaccine safety and efficacy data to be assessed by the relevant medicines regulatory authorities that will guide this decision.’

It is likely that there may be more than one vaccine for Covid-19 available during the period vaccinations will be offered.

But the announcement of any new vaccines will not impact on Guernsey’s vaccination planning.

The UK government has pre-ordered 100m. doses of the Oxford vaccine and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has said it will make three billion doses for the world next year.

. There is only one known active case of Covid-19 in the Bailiwick. No new cases were found yesterday.