Of the eligible population in the island, 95% have received their full two doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

Emphasis has been placed on having a booster jab in recent weeks - a rollout which has already seen massive success.

A first dose has been administered to 87.06% of those eligible.

That amounts to 68,968 doses of the vaccine.

In this case, the eligible population is the total population over the age of 12.

A second dose has been administered to 95% of those eligible.

That amounts to a further 65,808 doses of the vaccine.

In this case, the eligible population is all adults over the age of 12 who have had their first dose.

A third dose of the vaccine (of the regular course, not a booster) can also be offered and administered to those with immunosuppression who require it.

In terms of third doses, 1,544 have been administered.

In the UK (as of January 10), 90.4% of the eligible population has had their first dose, and 83% have had their second.

Elsewhere, the booster programme began in earnest in mid-September last year, after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in the UK declared that booster jabs should be offered to all adults aged 50 and over on September 14.

The first stage of the booster rollout saw booster jabs offered to health and care workers at drop-in sessions at the Chester Street hub.

From Monday, October 4, adults aged 70 and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals were also called up to have their booster jab.

On November 17, the offer was extended to include those aged 40 and over. Then, at the end of November, the Omicron variant emerged.

It was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in South Africa on November 24.

On November 26, the government here announced that ’precautionary actions [were] underway to reduce the risk of a new Covid-19 variant being transmitted in the Isle of Man’.

These measures included tightened border restrictions in line with the UK’s red list.

At that time, border officers identified 21 people who had arrived in the Isle of Man from South Africa in the previous 10 days.

On November 30, the government announced that booster jabs would soon be offered to ’all adults from the age of 18, with the rollout continuing in age order giving priority to older adults and those in Covid-19 at-risk groups’.

In addition, the time between a person’s second dose and booster dose was dropped from six months to three.

The Omicron variant officially hit the island on December 10, when two cases were detected.

On December 16, a number of walk-in clinics in Douglas were announced for the week running up to Christmas.

These were initially open to anyone aged 40 and over and those who were medically vulnerable.

Then, on December 20, the government announced that these clinics would be open to all adults over the age of 18.

The response was stark and immediate - with a record-breaking 2,441 jabs delivered that day.

More than 60% of the elgible population were boosted in time for Christmas.

Now, 70.53% of the eligible population - which is all adults over the age of 18 and those between 16 and 49 with underlying medical conditions who received a full course of the vaccine (2 or 3 doses) - have been boosted.

That amounts to 46, 414 doses of the vaccine.