One vaccine dose for all by July is hope
ALL islanders should have had the option to have at least one vaccine injection by July, it was confirmed at yesterday’s briefing.
CCA advisor Heidi Soulsby said it anticipated that by 30 April, everyone in vaccine priority groups one to nine, which includes healthcare staff, people with underlying health issues and those over 50, would have had their first dose.
By 1st July, people in these groups will have had both doses. People under 50 should also have had their first dose.
But she warned the dates could change.
‘So don’t go booking your holidays for early July just yet,’ she said.
Islanders seem to have heeded that warning, with cheap seats still available on Aurigny services to Southampton and Gatwick in early July three hours after yesterday’s announcement.
She warned that one caveat was that vaccines had to remain effective against any variants that arose.
A single test at the border or before travel might still be required, depending on concerns at the time.
Tests on arrivals could be charged for, but no decision has been made yet.
Deputy Soulsby also warned that restrictions on the border could still be implemented periodically if they were needed.
‘So while there are understandably a lot of caveats to this timeline, the Bailiwick blueprint sets not only the light at the end of the tunnel, but how we are seeking to drive through it to begin properly reconnecting with the outside world,’ she said.
Travel providers, including Aurigny and Condor, only heard about the blueprint at the same time as the public.
Aurigny is only operating three rotations to Southampton a week currently, while Condor is only operating the Commodore Clipper for passengers and only when they provide a negative test.
CCA chairman Peter Ferbrache said yesterday’s announcement gave them 10 days to prepare for the first change.
‘It may be that it will take them a little longer,’ he said. ‘There are still going to be significant restrictions.’
States chief executive Paul Whitfield said they were in regular contact with carriers and he was aware they were preparing.
‘So us providing this marker in the sand with 1 July not only allows us, as islanders, to see if we can plan to go away more freely, but also gives a date for the carriers to start polishing off and see what they might do,’ he said.
