Monday 17 May 2021
The States of Guernsey COVID-19 Vaccination Programme is progressing well with invitations now being sent to those aged 25 to 29.
We are aware that a number of people have been delaying making an appointment due to personal reasons or hesitancy about participating in the vaccine programme at this stage. We are also aware that some people aged 40 years and over are reluctant to make an appointment as they hope to receive the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna vaccine at the end of the programme.
In line with the JCVI guidelines, all those aged 40 years and over are currently being offered the AstraZeneca vaccine. At this time, it is not possible to provide vaccine choice for those over 40 unless there is a clinical reason why they should not receive a particular vaccine.
Anyone over the age of 40 is being encouraged to make their vaccination appointments by Saturday 22 May 2021. Those seeking to delay their appointment in order to be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine should note that this cannot be guaranteed. Following the recent change in JCVI advice for anyone aged between 18 and 39 year of age to receive either the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine or the Moderna vaccine, there may be insufficient vaccine remaining to be able to offer it to those who fall outside of this age group.
