Covid-19: All Jersey adults to be offered vaccine by August

All Jersey adults will be offered a coronavirus vaccine by mid-August, health bosses have confirmed.

From Friday, people aged 30 to 34 can book their appointments for the jabs, which will begin on Saturday.

Jersey decided not to give the AstraZeneca jab to people under 40 after new advice was issued last week .

This affected the timetable of the programme so appointments for the under-30s will start in June instead, the Government of Jersey said.

Appointments for those aged between 25 and 29 will open from 5 June, with bookings from 4 June.

The over 18s can then begin to book from 17 June, with appointments to start from 18 June.

The change in the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommendations for the AstraZeneca vaccine followed a very small increase in reports of extremely rare cases of clots following the first dose.

Head of the island's vaccination programme, Becky Sherrington, said it was "extremely encouraging" to see consistent levels of vaccination uptake as they offer them to younger age groups.

She explained the decision to not offer the AstraZeneca jab had a "small impact on their schedule, delaying the offering of jabs to under-30s.

Mrs Sherrington said: "However, we will have offered everyone over the age of 18 both doses of the vaccine by mid-August 2021.

"I'd once again like to reiterate the importance of younger people attending for their vaccination as soon as they are eligible, to not delay booking.

"Although Covid-19 in younger adults is usually milder than in adults, you can get unwell and have complications or long-lasting symptoms that affect your health and well-being."

Follow BBC Jersey on Twitter and Facebook. Send any story ideas to [email protected].