On Friday morning, Governor Martyn Roper and Premier Wayne Panton joined the growing number of people opting for a third, or booster, dose of the vaccine.
Roper told the Compass he felt fine after the “very quick, painless procedure”.
Panton added that the occasion, which he marked with his wife and other eligible Cabinet colleagues, was “a wonderful opportunity for us to promote the booster shot programme”.
“It’s obviously designed for the population who are older, perhaps statistically more susceptible. It also includes those who have vulnerabilities, irrespective of their age, and it includes healthcare workers as well,” Panton said, clarifying who is eligible to receive a booster at the current time.
Risk of community transmission
Roper stressed that the opportunity to receive a third jab is particularly crucial now, as the jurisdiction grapples with community spread of COVID-19, which emerged in September.
According to the latest update from Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Lee on Thursday, there were 28 new cases of local transmission, including six children.
“As we live with COVID, that means having a set of mitigations in place to prevent infection, but also to stop people getting seriously ill or even worse. The booster is a fundamental part of those mitigations,” the governor emphasised.
The premier reiterated COVID in the community “is not going away” and encouraged people to protect themselves as “an essential part of our strategy of learning to live with COVID and managing COVID”.
Roper also pointed out that the third dose has a very high efficacy rate.
“I was very pleased yesterday to see a study in the UK that shows that this Pfizer booster is 96% effective at stopping infections,” Roper told the Compass after receiving his vaccine.
Vaccination target imminent, next batch ordered
According to Thursday’s COVID update, 1,352 people have now had a booster dose, which represents 7% of those aged over 50.
Acknowledging this demand, the governor reassured there were “sufficient supplies” on island, but announced an order for the next batch has already been placed and will arrive in November.
“The UK will provide these vaccines free of charge,” Roper said.
The premier thanked people who have already come forward to get vaccinated.
“We are going to hit 80% of 71,106… that’s a number that many, many people predicted we could never achieve. Yet we are going to do it; we will be doing that in the coming few weeks,” Panton said.
The governor also emphasised that there were other options available beyond the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, should people wish to take an alternative vaccine.
“Pfizer is the main one that we’re giving to people, but you can get AstraZeneca… I think we have about 400. So if you prefer to have the AstraZeneca one, you can ask for that as well,” Roper said.
Anyone aged over 50 who took their second dose six months ago is eligible for the booster.
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