Islanders urged to wait their turn for Covid jabs
ISLANDERS have been told there will be no queue jumping in the administering of vaccines.
Health & Social Care has had a lot of requests from people who think they or someone close to them should be higher up the priority ranking.
The Bailiwick is using an ‘oldest first’ approach, as well as targeting health workers and those with long-term illness.
Scientists have decided that is the most effective way of reducing possible deaths while the inoculation programme is under way.
Dr Nicola Brink, the director of Public Health, urged people to wait their turn.
‘I always say that for everyone we move up the list someone else moves down.
‘And the risk stratification has been done on the analysis of large numbers of patient records to look at who would benefit most from the vaccination.
‘And just to remind you, the prime aim of the programme at this stage is to prevent Covid associated morbidity, so severe illness and death.’
The point was also underlined by Deputy Al Brouard, the president of Health & Social Care.
‘We appreciate that many islanders want the vaccine as quickly as possible which we welcome, but we have to continue to work as a community and follow the evidence and advice available. The work of the UK’s joint committee on vaccination and immunisation has established a clear schedule of how cohorts should be sequenced based on risk, and in that light taking into account clinical, legal and ethical reasons we are following this locally.’
Non-Guernsey residents, or people who are currently on holiday in the island, will not be allowed the vaccine locally because Deputy Brouard said they had to reserve stocks for residents.
‘We have also received a number of requests from non-Guernsey residents to receive the vaccine while they are with us in the Bailiwick.
‘We are allocated a share of the vaccine based on our resident population and therefore we cannot provide vaccines to those who have chosen to temporarily live with us, or are here to care for a loved one during the pandemic. For the same reason the vaccine is not available privately here, in the UK, or in other Crown Dependencies.’
