Lockdown: “Chance of us going back gets less and less”

Thursday 11 March 2021

As more people in the island get vaccinated, the prospect of further lockdowns when outbreaks occur gets increasingly unlikely.

This was the sentiment of Guernsey’s Director of Public Health during the latest media briefing, when Dr Nicola Brink gave an update on vaccine rollout. She also responded to questions from Express about the way it will affect decision-making when Covid-19 cases crop up in the future.

“The vaccination process is having a huge positive effect,” she said.

“Even if we saw a cluster of cases, we wouldn’t necessarily go back into lockdown.”

Pictured: It is set to be a booster week for vaccinations in Guernsey.

Dr Brink said it was clear that the vaccination programme was having an effect on mortality, after the Express raised questions about the vaccine’s efficacy in fighting the virus.

The Bailiwick of Guernsey’s second wave saw more than twice the amount of infections recorded than the first wave. 252 cases were recorded in 2020 compared to 511 from the beginning of this year to the 11 March.

These figures do, however, have to take into account the presence of the more transmissible Kent variant of Covid-19 and the island's increased testing capability this time around. 

The death rate in during the second wave has been substantially lower; 14 deaths were linked directly to Covid-19 during the last wave and only one has been this year.

Pictured:  Nearly a third of the island has had at least one dose of the vaccine. 

Dr Brink said the vaccine is clearly having an effect and the programme will potentially help the Bailiwick avoid another lockdown in the future.

“As we get more of the population vaccinated, the chance of us having to go backwards gets less and less,” she said.