Covid-19: Manx vaccination hub opens amid accessibility concerns

Part of the main concourse at Ronaldsway Airport has been converted for the hub

A mass vaccination hub has opened in the south of the Isle of Man amid fears it could be inaccessible to elderly residents in the north.

Part of the main concourse at Ronaldsway Airport has been converted for the project.

Ramsey MHK Lawrie Hooper said bus journeys from the north are long and require changes, which would be too much for vulnerable people.

About 400 vaccine jabs each day are expected to be administered at the hub.

The cost of the project, which is expected to remain in place for the duration of the vaccination programme, is yet to be revealed.

Speaking in the House of Keys, Mr Hooper said the health department was forcing older people to take "multiple buses" and undertake "hours of travel" to have the jab.

People were "genuinely worried" about not being able to get vaccinated "simply because they cannot get to the vaccine hub", he added.

The hub is expected to remain in place until the vaccination programme is complete

Health Minister David Ashford said there were a variety of ways people could get to the venue, including Bus Vannin's on demand door-to-door minibus services.

Group transport would also be arranged by the patient transfer service for the "small number" of people with limited mobility who did not have friends or relatives that could take them, he said.

Home visits for those aged over 85 who were housebound would start once all care home residents had been vaccinated, he added.

Plans were also in place to create a smaller hub in Ramsey to give jabs to those from the surrounding area who were unable to travel, Mr Ashford confirmed.

By Thursday afternoon some 4,700 people on the island, which has a population of 85,000, had received their first vaccine dose.

More than 1,000 had been given both doses.