01 February 2021
A panel of clinicians and community representatives has been established to consider exceptions to the vaccination priorities set by the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
Jersey’s COVID-19 vaccination plan aims to have everyone aged 50+ vaccinated by the end of March. Vaccine appointments are now open to 70-74 year olds and to those with health conditions that put them at high risk of severe illness.
The Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Richard Renouf, who established the new panel said: “Jersey is privileged to have had access to the COVID-19 vaccines and our programme leads have done an incredible job with the roll-out.
“We have adopted the vaccination schedule developed by the JCVI, which clearly sets out which groups of people should be vaccinated, in priority order, based on their risk of death or severe illness from COVID-19. We recognise, however, that there may be a small number of people who should be offered a vaccine in advance of the JCVI priorities.”
Dr Paul Hughes, Chair of the Panel and clinical practitioner with experience of medical ethics said: “The Minister has established the Panel so it can make independent decisions on advance vaccination. The Panel will take into account a range of factors when considering exceptions to the JCVI’s priority list.
"It will seek a clear rationale for diverging from the JCVI priorities, based on risk of transmission and the fairness of providing advance vaccination to some people.
“The Panel will not approve advance vaccination unless there are enough supplies to avoid delaying the vaccination of those in the JVCI priority groups.”
The Panel will consider written requests from healthcare staff, professional bodies and States Members, on behalf of Islanders or groups of Islanders. It will not consider requests directly from individual members of the public.
Members of the COVID-19 vaccination priority panel:
- (Chair) Deputy Medical Director, Paul Hughes
- Associate Medical Director, Primary Care Governance
- Chief Pharmacist
- Deputy Medical Officer of Health
- Citizen’s Advice Jersey, Chief Executive
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