Thank you Chief Minister,
I just want to focus on the vaccination programme and if I may Chief Minister go into some detail around many questions I know that people may have been asking themselves and hopefully be able to provide a bit more detailed understanding about the rollout.
Is the Vaccine rollout too slow and could it not be done quicker?
The answer to this is we can only vaccinate based on supply. Our supply is 0.13% of the U.K. supply based on a per head of population basis. That is the amount we have received to date. We must also keep enough vaccine to ensure we can deliver the second dose as vaccines can’t be mixed and matched the second dose must be the same as the first. The deliveries from the manufacturers of the vaccine is not an even amount each week it will differ over the current months according to the manufacturers and their production alongside the UK delivery levels, so it is important we hold enough vaccine of the correct type to deliver peoples 2nd doses of the correct vaccine as we cannot mix and match.
How are the orders spaced out can we not get enough to vaccinate the population all at once?
Deliveries of the vaccine are from the UK stock purchased from the manufacturers. This is a brand new vaccine being produced from stretch and it will take time for the Manufacturer to produce. For instance Pfizer alone is looking at needing to produce 2 billion vaccines this year. So deliveries are spread out over between now and September.
As with any manufacturing process, production starts off at a lower level before building up and that’s exactly the same with receipts of vaccine stock they will start off at low levels and then build up as the manufacturers' ramp up production.
I cannot emphasise enough our limitation is not resource, we have more than enough resource for each stage of the vaccination programme, our only limitation is supply we can only vaccinate to level of supply we can access.
As a crown dependency can we not get vaccine other than through the UK?
As would be expected there is worldwide demand for the vaccine. With Pfizer alone looking to try and produce 2 billon doses this year, a scale of production never seen before. As a crown dependency our route of supply is via the UK. We are small jurisdiction with a population of 84/85 thousand so have limited buying power and the manufacturers would I'm afraid not prioritise us for vaccines. We have benefited from the buying power of the UK as a large nation, for instance the UK has purchased 100m doses of the Oxford vaccine alone and will between now and September have more than enough vaccine to cover the whole population of the island. Something we would not have access to on our own, with the larger countries around the world having already mass purchased in advance most of the production to be carried out this year. Trying to act on our own we would have access to nowhere near the level of vaccine we have via the UK and would likely not see any vaccine delivered until late this year at the earliest as the manufacturers seek to meet the pre-orders of the large jurisdictions around the world.
When will the priority groups be completed?
Based on current delivery schedules all those in the priority groups will be vaccinated by the end of May. That is everyone over 50, in care homes and in the clinically vulnerable category. That equates in population terms to 42,000 people or 50% of our population.
When will the whole of the population be vaccinated?
Based on current delivery schedules, and again I must emphasise that it depends on timescales of the manufacturers producing the vaccine the UK has ordered, everyone who wishes to have a vaccine will have been able to have one by the end of September.
I’m in the over 80s category and received my letter but had my appointment booked for mid-February why is it a month away?
The over 80’s vaccinations have commenced and started last week. To put it into context there are 4397 people in this category so based on supply of the vaccine it will take a number of weeks for that cohort to be vaccinated.
This came up at Friday’s briefing as a question and I must confess, and this shows that I am human, that I lost track of where we were currently in January as all the days seem to be merging into one with me at the moment so I thought we were earlier in January than we actually are. So it is correct that appointments will be four weeks in advance as again we can only work to the supply we hold. As the supplies we receive increase so will the number of vaccinations we deliver each week. Our staffing and delivery of jabs into arms is based on the levels of vaccine we receive and increases as the level of supply increases over the coming months.
Is the Isle of Man programme slower than other countries?
Based on our current number of vaccinations carried out per 100 people our vaccination programme is within the top 10% of vaccination rollouts in the world.
It is correct we are currently behind the UK but as the delivery schedule increases in February and March we will over time equal the UK rollout on a population basis.
In the UK church halls, marquees etc. are being used why aren’t we doing that?
We will be delivering the vaccine from hubs because it will work much more efficiently than having multiple sites and duplication. There is a large administrative and patient safety process behind this vaccine rollout and also logistical processes around transporting and delivering. It there for makes sense and is much more efficient as a small island to operate from a few central hubs which will allow the processing of people more quickly and will not mean multiple duplications of administration and staffing. It also has to be remembered that we see these hubs on TV being created by the UK they are actually in many cases covering and catering for larger populations than our entire island.
Where will these hubs be?
As the delivery levels of vaccine increases we will be bringing the hubs on line. So the airport hub previously announced will begin operating on 28th January. As I announced on Friday we are also looking to convert the old Shoprite building in Chester Street into a vaccination hub. This is to replace the current set up we have in Newlands. The Newlands set up was created before lockdown and the need for social distancing requirements and the added measures we need as a result. It therefore makes sense to create a larger space away from the hospital site which will come online in February in line with our increased deliveries of the vaccine. I can also confirm we are looking at creating a vaccination hub in the North of the island also to come on line in late February as the vaccination programme increases in line with supply. I am limited in what I can say about this at the moment but when we are in a position to advise further we will.
Why in the island have we so far being vaccinating 3 days a week rather than 7 days?
The first important point to stress is the 3 days a week we have been doing does not mean less vaccine is being delivered. If we were doing 7 days it would still be the same amount of vaccine delivered based on supply just spaced out over 7 days instead of 3. The decision was taken to do 3 intensive days to begin with so the clinical body could review the handling protocols and delivery procedures of the vaccine after each batch and also crucially the safety procedures to check they are all working as expected. It has to be remembered this is a brand new vaccine and is actually the most logistically challenging vaccine ever created. There are strict safety protocols around security, transport, handling, storage, mixing and delivery and even down to how the used vials are disposed of. To have the right to use the vaccine we have to ensure we comply with all of these. So there needs to be constant review of processes to ensure we are compliant. As an example due to the reviews there has already been numerous changes to processes that have resulted from the experience of actually delivering the vaccine. As a medical procedure it is important that we ensure the vaccination programme is patient safe at each and every stage.
I hope people have found this helpful. Before handing back to the Chief Minister there are two other topics I would like to very quickly touch on.
The first is to say thank you to the islands blood donors and the teams that have allowed blood donation to continue despite the issues we have faced. Blood donation is a crucial part of our health service and I would like to say thank to the team for all they have done to keep the service running at this difficult time and also those who are blood donors who have continued to come forward.
I’ve also spoken to one of the families who has been effected by this dreadful virus who sadly have been very upset by comments they have been viewing on social media. It is important that we as an island come together at this difficult time and I ask that people think about how comments may come across to those who have been affected. They are victims of this virus, they did not want to become infected, they did nothing wrong to become infected. Sadly when you are dealing with an invisible enemy such as a virus even the most cautious of us runs the risk of infection. So please think before you post and consider the feelings of those suffering at this current difficult time.
