Govt reports another 25 Covid-19 cases as booster campaign gathers momentum

The GHA’s vaccination team plans to deliver booster jabs to between 180 and 216 people every weekday, as the campaign got off to a strong start this week against the backdrop of a spike in cases for two consecutive days.

On weekend, the campaign will be stepped up to administer third shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to up to 450 people per day.

A total of 180 health and care staff were jabbed on Monday in a dedicated vaccination clinic at the Primary Care Centre.

“I am very pleased with how the first day of Gibraltar’s COVID-19 booster vaccination campaign went, from the logistics and preparations to the smooth process of administering them,” said the Minister for Health, Samantha Sacramento.

“We learned a lot from the first vaccination campaign, which was widely praised for its efficiency, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the many teams and individuals for once again delivering an exceptional service to the public.”

“It is important that those who are offered the booster, take this opportunity so that we can continue to keep Gibraltar and in particular our health services, as safe from Covid as possible.”

But the rollout of the booster campaign comes as the number of Covid-19 cases in the community jumped sharply.

On Monday, the Gibraltar Government reported 29 new cases after a community outbreak between “loosely connected” individuals, all of whom responded positively to help stem further spread.

On Tuesday though, another 25 new cases were detected in Gibraltar, including 16 unvaccinated persons, most of them aged under 20. All but one of the new cases were residents.

Of the 24 new resident cases, 12 were close contacts of an existing active case.

As of Tuesday, there were 127 active cases on the Rock, seven of them visitors. A further 143 people were in self isolation.

Most of the cases are recovering at home.

Three people were in the Covid-19 ward at St Bernard’s hospital and one was in the critical care unit.

The booster jab is being offered to:

• Residents in ERS

• All adults aged 50 years or over

• All health and social care workers

• All those aged 16-49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at high risk of severe COVID-19, and their adult careers

• Adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals

Those eligible will receive a phone call inviting them to an appointment.

The vaccines to the public is being administered at the Children’s Health Centre at Suite 975 Europort and appointments will be offered seven days a week.

Please register your interest in the COVID-19 booster vaccination programme at this link: https://www.gha.gi/pfizerbooster/