Vaccination doses will be six week apart under latest plans
A SIX-WEEK gap between Covid shots will apply for those being vaccinated at the centre being established at Beau Sejour.
The confirmation comes as the States published its first weekly update of how the programme was progressing.
So far 1,661 first doses have been given, and 950 second.
It means a rate of 4 doses per 100 people, which compares with 4.54 in Jersey, 4.94 in the UK and 24.98 in world leading Israel.
The States is expecting 18,525 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 22,070 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to have arrived by the end of March.
'Vaccinations are currently being delivered in the island’s care homes, in addition the 80 year old and over cohort are being invited to attend their Primary Care surgery for their vaccination,' a States spokesperson said.
All vaccinations in Alderney, where nearly 300 people have received a shot, and Sark are being managed by the islands’ GP practices.
The Community Vaccination Centre is scheduled to open on Monday 25 January in the Sir John Loveridge Hall at Beau Sejour.
Letters have begun to be sent out to the first cohort of patients to attend the centre, those over 75.
'The vaccinations for the cohorts being delivered at the CVC will have a six week interval between doses. This is to ensure the most optimal and strategic use is made of the vaccine supply allocated to the Bailiwick in the forthcoming months. The gap between doses followed a detailed evaluation of the data regarding the efficacy of the vaccine with differing timing options.'
Some countries including Britain are seeking to counter low vaccine supplies by extending the gap between first and second doses to up to 12 weeks - the initial manufacturer recommendation had been three.
Local care home residents, over 80s and front line health and care workers will continue to receive their second dose of the vaccine at three or four week intervals as originally planned.
Invite letters to attend the vaccination centre will be sent out in batches to manage the flow of callers booking appointments.
The first will arrive tomorrow.
A dedicated call centre has been established with four call handlers to book appointments every weekday between 8am and 8pm and every weekend between 8 am and 12 noon.
The vaccination centre will normally open between 10 am and 7pm, from Tuesday to Saturday.
In week one it will not run on Wednesday to allow any unexpected issues to be resolved.
There are currently eight known active Covid cases in the island after one new case. They were an inbound traveller who was in isolation and tested positive on day 9.
The States has been unable to update how many people are waiting for test results because of an ongoing 'IT issue' which was first reported on Wednesday.
