Guernsey Press

Over 20,000 doses of vaccines administered

OVER 20,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines have now been administered within the Bailiwick.

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The vaccination centre at Beau Sejour. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 29277043)

This equates to 27% of the population, 10% of which have had two doses with the remainder having received one, totalling 30.5 doses per 100 people, compared to 27.3 in the UK.

The milestone comes as the number of active cases fell to 37, with one new one confirmed, while economic data showed that the deficit in States finances last year was not as bad as feared.

All adults could be vaccinated as soon as the end of July if recent UK estimates are met.

‘Once we’ve finished priority group nine we would want to roll out a population-based vaccination programme,’ Dr Brink said.

‘With the increasing data coming out on transmissibility that becomes even more relevant.’

This will be done as soon as possible but is dependent on UK supply of vaccines.

Currently those aged 65 to 60 are being prioritised, which is estimated to include about 4,400 islanders.

‘Really this is an extremely impressive amount of vaccine delivered by a very small and dedicated group and as ever we are grateful to them,’ said Dr Nicola Brink, Director of Public Health.

For the majority, active cases are currently within age groups which are less at risk of Covid-related morbidity and mortality, with few cases in the over-80s.

They peak in 40- to 50-year-olds and resulted from cases in younger children, which Dr Brink said shows how effective the vaccination programme has been.

‘It’s encouraging to see so few cases in the group that is extremely vulnerable.’

Dr Brink said that some people do have a short-lived bad reaction to the vaccine.

‘They feel quite sick afterwards – aches, pains, headaches and so on – so that’s without a doubt. With regard to people who have had the vaccine, I am not aware of data showing that there’s a huge excess of increase in side effects for people who have previously had an infection.’

Vaccinations are recommended for people who have recovered from Covid because it is not certain how long they will have an immunity to SARS-CoV-2.

Data on vaccinations reducing the chance of Covid transmission is now coming through, which will support rolling out the vaccine to the whole population.

‘Even if it isn’t a complete reduction in transmission, if it impacts and reduces transmission that is still helpful when you look at population based health and wellbeing.

Some people have received two doses of the vaccine and subsequently become infected with Covid, Dr Brink said.

‘With the people that have become infected post-vaccination most of them didn’t transmit the virus further, and so that’s interesting because it implies that they had low levels of virus.’

Unless used while travelling outside of the Bailiwick, the possibility of contact tracing apps have been ruled out because of the efficiency of the contact tracing team, high community engagement in the vaccination programme, central data on who has received a vaccine and the need for clarity on what the apps would be used for.