Isle of Man to get first Covid-19 vaccines 'next week'

The Isle of Man is expected to take delivery of the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines "next week", the health minister has said.

David Ashford said plans were in place to start the roll-out of a vaccination programme on 21 December, with care home residents receiving it first.

The programme would then "start gearing up from January onwards," he added.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said the programme would be "a Christmas present to our whole community".

Mr Ashford said that "as things currently stand", officials expected to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by "next week" and "administering our programme" would begin "the following week".

On 4 December, the government said the vaccination of those in the most vulnerable groups on the island would take "three to four months".

Mr Ashford said everyone aged 50 and over, front-line staff and people with underlying health issues were expected to be vaccinated by September 2021.

Mr Quayle said getting the supply chain right before starting was crucial, as the "last thing that we would want is to vaccinate just shy of a thousand people and then find out that due to supply problems, we don't get our next amount of vaccines within the permitted time".

He said that was why there was no need for concern about the fact the island had not received vaccines at the same time as the Channel Islands.

He added that that was "purely a precaution", because the island was seeking "assurances" that the second round of the vials would be delivered "within the time frame of the 21 days" before the programme could be started.

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