The government said that by 2.45pm, a total of 2,000 bookings had been made for those aged 80 or over, and also confirmed that the first delivery of the AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccine had made it to Jersey.
Yesterday was the first official day for those in this highest of the Island’s age bracket to secure an appointment by using an online portal – gov.je/vaccine – or calling the coronavirus helpline (445566).
A total of 3,800 appointment slots are available up until 20 January, after which teams will make home visits to those over-80s who have been unable to travel to the vaccination centre at Fort Regent.
Vaccination lead Becky Sherrington said yesterday that she expected all over-80s who wished to have the vaccine would receive it before the end of January.
Islanders have been encouraged to use the online booking system where possible, seeking help from family members, friends or support organisations, to reduce the burden on the helpline, which will be open until 8pm today and tomorrow.
Although the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine will be used for those aged 80 or over, Jersey now also has supplies of the Oxford vaccine, which gained regulatory approval on 30 December.
A government spokesperson said that 900 doses had been delivered yesterday, with a ‘provisional schedule’ for up to 6,000 more doses to arrive before the end of this month.
Those who receive their first jab during January are due to be given a second dose around ten weeks later.
With care-home residents and staff, domiciliary care workers and frontline health employees having already been vaccinated, and over-80s next in line, the focus will then switch to the next tiers of the programme.
Around 3,000 Islanders at highest risk due to health conditions will be next in line, followed by non-frontline healthcare staff and those aged 65 and over, who will become eligible in three groups: 75 to 79, 70 to 74 and 65 to 69.
The total number of Islanders vaccinated stood at 3,188 on Monday.
