‘Vaccine slots can’t be tailored individually’

The request has come after staff at the vaccination call centre reported people in this age group asking to choose their own time slot.

Letters began being sent out to over-55s on 22 March.

‘When islanders contact the VCC they will be offered the next available slots,’ a spokesman for the States said.

‘If they are offered a time that they genuinely cannot make, the team can offer alternatives based on slot availability rather than the individual themselves requesting a specific time and date.’

About 700 people in the over-50 group had their first vaccine dose yesterday.

The centre is dealing with high volumes of calls and if large numbers seek specific slots, the time taken to make bookings increases, the States said.

Invitations to be vaccinated have been sent out to everyone over 60,

The 50 and over age bracket letters will go out from Tuesday and everyone accepting should have received their first dose by Saturday 8 May.

There will then be a two-week period for ‘mop-up’ appointments with the next phase, for the over-18s, beginning on Monday 24 May.

Latest statistics show that 33,400 doses have been administered in Guernsey so far, with 37% of the population having had one dose.

A third vaccine could soon be in use alongside Pfizer and AstraZeneca.

The Novavax vaccine could be approved for use by the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, by as early as the end of April, according to one of the scientists helping to develop it.

. There are no known active cases of Covid-19 in the island, with yesterday marking 31 days since the last positive case was identified.