Covid-19: Manx care home vaccinations to begin 'within days'

Mr Ashford said the process of vaccinating people aged 80 and over had started on Monday

The roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines to Isle of Man care home residents will begin in the next few days, the health minister has said.

David Ashford said "clinical protocols" were being finalised ahead of the next stage of the island's vaccination programme, which began on 4 January.

More than 1,000 healthcare workers have now received the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

Mr Ashford said the process of vaccinating people aged 80 and over had also started on Monday.

He said the roll-out to people in "care and residential settings" would be completed by the end of January and would use the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, as it is logistically easier to transport.

He added that he was "completely confident" the island had "staffing capacity" to cope with the roll-out of multiple vaccines and would be "able to ramp up as the deliveries come into the island".

Mr Ashford also confirmed that the island would be entitled to 13,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, enough for 6,500 people, but deliveries of it were not expected for a few months.

A government spokesman said there were currently 30 active Covid-19 cases on the island after three new cases emerged.

He said two people who were already isolating due a member of their household having the virus had now tested positive, while the source of transmission for the third case was not yet known.

A total of 406 people have tested positive for the virus since March 2020, 25 of whom died.