Covid: Isle of Man vaccination roll-out reaches new milestone

James Redmond was the recipient of the 100,000th dose of the vaccine on the island

Reaching the halfway mark for full vaccination status for adults on the Isle of Man is a "huge milestone", the health minister has said.

More than 37,000 out of the 72,500 people earmarked for the jabs have now had both.

David Ashford said the continued roll-out of vaccines was giving islanders "more and more protection".

He made the comments as the 100,000th dose was administered at the Douglas vaccination hub on Market Street.

Recipient James Redmond said he was "relieved" to receive his second jab, which would enable his family to "basically get our lives back to normal".

Progress with the vaccine roll-out has enabled the government to relax the island's border restrictions and allowing those who are double-vaccinated to travel freely to the island would make a "big difference", Mr Redmond said.

"We've not seen our son now since Christmas 2019 and it's starting to get tough now not seeing family," the 60-year-old said.

"He's had two jabs and he's coming home on 19 July, so we're really looking forward to that."

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The island's vaccination programme started on 4 January at the Newlands ward at Noble's Hospital, but the majority of jabs have been given out at hubs based at Ronaldsway Airport and a former supermarket in Douglas.

Use of the airport hub is currently being wound down to accommodate an increase in air passenger numbers, with appointments booked for 10, 11, 17 and 18 July moved to the Douglas vaccination centre.

There is also uncertainty over the future of that hub, which is due to shut down in September following the completion of the original vaccination programme, while details of an autumn booster programme are awaited.

Announcements would be "made in the coming weeks", once detailed information had been received from the UK about the additional jabs, Mr Ashford said.