MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands ready to receive third batch of Covid-19 vaccines

People aged 18 to 45 years living in the Western or Outer Islands will receive the first dose of the itinerant vaccination team.

The Falkland Islands Government has received confirmation that it will receive a third batch of Covid-19 vaccines and, while the exact timing is yet to be confirmed, it is anticipated that these will arrive in the week beginning 22 March.

In light of this news, KEMH is working on plans to provide first doses for people who have not yet received the vaccine and are aged between 18 – 45. To this end, Stanley Vaccination Centre will now remain open during the week beginning 29 March, in order for people within this age group, who live in or can travel to Stanley, to receive their first vaccination.

For 18 – 45-year olds who live on the West or Outer Islands, they will receive their first dose from the travelling vaccination team. The team is working with FIGAS to arrange a schedule for the week beginning 5 April, which will involve providing first doses for 18 – 45-year olds, as well as second doses for people living in those areas, who received their first dose in the earlier stages of the vaccination programme.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Beccy Edwards, said: “This is brilliant news for us as it means we will have enough vaccine to immunise all consenting adults across the Islands. Given our remote location and our limited capacity to provide critical health care services, this is the best way that we can protect our population from becoming seriously unwell or worse. The hospital is working on the logistics for this next phase and, while the Stanley Vaccination Centre is now a tried and tested model for much of our community, we also want to make sure that the travelling vaccination team can get to as many people as possible via FIGAS. We think the best way to arrange this, is to provide second doses to people who took part in the earlier stages of the vaccination programme, at the same time as administering the first doses to people in the younger age group. This makes our round robin flights much more efficient, particularly at a time when I know that FIGAS is incredibly busy.”

The travelling vaccination team plan to visit the West and Outer Islands in the week beginning 5 April and the details of their schedule will be published in due course.