Covid: New Isle of Man vaccination hub to allow smooth roll-out

Ann Corlett was one of the first in the over-75 age group to get the jab at the new hub

The opening of a new coronavirus vaccination hub will enable the rollout of jabs to continue should there be another outbreak on the Isle of Man, the health minister has said.

The new facility on Market Street in Douglas would be "exceptionally significant" in allowing the programme to continue, David Ashford said.

He said the building offered "masses" of space for social distancing.

The new hub replaced a smaller clinic based at the Noble's Hospital site.

The new centre is based in a former supermarket in the town centre.

Mr Ashford said while staff working at the previous facility "did the best they could with the clinical area they were given", the new mass vaccination centre would be "much more efficient".

"Newlands is an outbuilding at Noble's, there wasn't the ability for social distancing as such, and there wasn't the ability to push through the throughput. It was very limited," he said.

In the event of a third Covid-19 outbreak on the island the new facility had "masses of amounts of space" to "still be getting people through", he added.