John Culatto
TWO more elderly people have become the latest COVID-19 victims as more vaccines jet into the Rock.
The latest casualties were in the age range of 65 to 75-years-old, bringing the total number of deaths to 47 in Gibraltar.
The man younger man died of COVID-19 pneumonia and the more elderly woman perished from a brain issue while suffering from the virus.
“Yesterday I described this worst loss of Gibraltarian life in over one hundred years as harrowing. With each loved one lost this only becomes harder to bear,” said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.
“One note of good news amongst the tragedy is that to date, 20 residents of ERS have successfully recovered from COVID-19, and we expect further recoveries today.”
Meanwhile, the fightback continues as the second batch of nearly 5,000 Pfizer vaccines arrives in Gibraltar tomorrow.
Ten days later, the third one will be delivered by the RAF with almost 7,000 precious jabs on board.
From each vial, doctors and nurses can extract six doses of the precious lifesaving vaccine, maximising the quantity without reducing its effect.
This will allow the vaccination programme to restart on Thursday with over-65s and front line staff being the first priorities.
Those who received their first dose already will then get their second one within the required 21 day period.
Jabbing away
After healthcare workers are immunised, police, fire services, Customs and airport staff will get their jabs on the weekend.
Teachers will also get their vaccines too, with St Martin’s staff being the first in line because they deal with special needs children.
Samantha Sacramento, Minister for Civil Contingencies, said this was great news: “Confirmation of the next deliveries of vaccine from the UK allows us to start to plan to vaccinate our next priority groups of people.
“At the public vaccination centre in the ICC we will now complete the vaccinations for over 70-year-olds, and start inviting over 65-year-olds to come forward.
“Assuming this continues, we will be able to vaccinate 20% more people with each batch of vaccine we receive from the UK.
“This will mean some 14,000 people in Gibraltar will benefit from the additional supply from the UK that was confirmed yesterday.”
At present 6,435 people have got their first dose of the vaccine on the Rock, mainly from the elderly and vulnerable groups.
“For all these people their immune systems are now starting to respond and produce antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19,” said the Chief Minister.
“Twice as many people in Gibraltar have now had their first dose of the vaccine compared to the number that have had COVID-19.
“The fight-back against this horrible disease is now well and truly underway in Gibraltar.”
Category 2 individuals who are only resident in Gibraltar part of the time can now also apply to receive the Pfizer vaccine.
Although they might not be fully resident on the Rock all of the time, many of those in the High Net Worth Individual bracket can now get jabbed locally.
