04/02/2021
Good afternoon everyone,
The Chief Minister is undertaking other duties this afternoon so alongside myself I’m delighted to be joined at the podium by the Director of Public Health Dr Henrietta Ewart.
Before I get started I would like to share with you today’s figures.
Today marks twenty three days since our last identified case of community spread and also four days since we have been able to exit our circuit breaker lockdown and restore much of our society back to the life we had in December. So I would like to take the opportunity to thank each and every one of you for sticking to the rules and allowing our island once again to push back against this dreadful debilitating virus.
You should all rightly be proud of what we as a community have achieved not once but twice over the last twelve months. This gives me an opportunity to pass over the Director for Public Health for a brief update on our current situation. Dr Ewart.
Thank you Dr Ewart.
It does have to however be recognised that not everything is still what we would, in different times, describe as normal.
We still have border restrictions in place around who can enter our island community and self isolation requirements for those returning. It is important to emphasise that those restrictions remain in place. People must follow the direction notice they are issued on entering or returning to the island and anyone who does not do so is committing a criminal offence.
Despite us returning to some semblance of normality, the self isolation rules continue to operate as they did during the circuit breaker. Unless an exemption has been granted in a travellers exemption notice they must isolate alone or with a person they have travelled with. For the avoidance of doubt you cannot stay at an address with any other people who have not travelled with you. If other members of your family are at the address and have not travelled you must isolate away from home for your period of isolation. This is monitored and enforced and any breaches will lead to arrest and prosecution. We know that this measure is tough for many but it is there to protect our island community. Our borders are our greatest weapon but also our greatest weakness. As the Director of Public Health has said on previous occasions 'we are only as safe as the last person across the border'.
As we look around the world at the situation in many other jurisdictions it is clear that when it comes to the spreading of this virus, it only takes one person to decide to deviate from those rules to cause a widespread outbreak. The measures are there to protect our community and allow us to maintain the enviable position of having and exercising personal freedoms that other nations cannot currently enjoy. So please if you are returning to the island after travel, stick to the rules no matter how difficult it may be. It not only protects our community as a whole but also your own loved ones at home from potential infection and spread. None of us know how this virus will affect us until we contract it and by then it is too late. So please stick to the rules and help our island community stay safe.
Turning to the vaccination programme. The vaccination programme continues to rollout at a pace and as of 2.30pm this afternoon we have completed 7,776 first dose vaccines and 2,183 second dose vaccines. A total of 9,959 vaccines delivered. We have now vaccinated 79% of all residents in care homes and their carers, 67% of all the over 80’s and health and care workers and letters have now started to go out inviting those over the age of 75 for their vaccinations. I’ve mentioned here at this podium before that this is a huge logistical challenge and the biggest vaccination rollout in human history. We continue to receive our regular supplies of vaccine from the UK stock on a per head of population basis and we will continue to vaccinate as the rate of supply allows us. As has previously been said this will differ over time as the rate of supply is not a consistent amount each week as the manufacturers have to produce and then distribute these vaccines from scratch, so the supply of vaccine available for us to order will differ week by week.
We are expecting there to be disruption in coming weeks with the Pfizer vaccine supply as Pfizer looks to expand its Belgian plants production capacity, but this will not halt our vaccine rollout as we have in stock all second doses required for those who have already had the Pfizer vaccine and we will be continuing a pace with available supplies of Oxford AstraZeneca.
As a nation we are heading in the right direction and should be proud of the hard work being undertaken by all of our frontline workers to keep our island safe and has put us in the top 10% of nations around the world for vaccination rollout. So I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to all those involved in the vaccination programme all of whom are working tirelessly to give us the protection we need to defeat this dreadful virus.
Sticking with 'thank you’s', I would like to say a huge thank you to the Manx Breast Cancer Support Group who has funded a Covid19 leaflet for patient transfers, it is full of useful advice on the rules and the system to stick to while in the United Kingdom during the pandemic. It also highlights sources of information and help and will be offered to all patient transfers travelling for treatment. So thank you to Manx Breast Cancer Support for your continuing help and support.
Now we will turn to questions from the media.
Can I thank our media partners for those questions.
I have often said at this podium that we have got through this as community and that community spirit has been our binding force. Earlier this week our world community lost a towering figure that embraced the very essence of community spirit, Captain Sir Tom Moore. Captain Sir Tom was an inspiration to people all over the globe and the fact that he lost his final battle to Covid-19 makes the loss even more pronounced. He was the embodiment of resolve and determination and stood as an example to us all that with steadfast determination we can achieve so much. Our world community is poorer and shining a little less bright with his loss but his memory and legacy will live on in all our hearts. He and his achievements will never be forgotten.
With things returning back to some semblance of normality again after the circuit breaker lockdown here on our island it is easy to think that for us Covid-19 is a thing of the past. It isn’t.
Despite us regaining most of our freedoms, those freedoms have been hard won and we must continue to remain vigilant and follow the rules in place around travel and self isolation. I have said before at this podium how has inspired me with how our island community has pulled together over this last 12 months.
Over the last three weeks we have done it again and banished the community spread of Covid-19 from our shores. But the risk has not gone away, the risk from this invisible enemy is still ever present.
Thank you to each and everyone of you for all that you have done, continue to do and the sacrifices many of you have made and continue to do, be that being parted from friends and family or restricting your what in normal times may be necessary trips off island. You are keeping our island safe and together I hope and believe that we will come out of this ever stronger as a community.