The booster programme will be rolled out at a faster rate.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan announced in the Tynwald sitting this morning that there are a total of 12 possible cases of the omicron variant of Covid-19 that have been detected in the island.

These have all gone into isolation and were directly and indirectly linked with travel, with evidence of household transmission.

Mr Cannan said: ‘It is vital everyone eligible now gets a booster vaccine as soon as possible.

‘The potential risk is clear enough and the threat is real.’

He explained 31,000 people in the island hadn’t yet received booster vaccines and 9,000 of those already have appointments.

Plans have been brought forward into December and the aim is to get 1,500 to 1,700 people vaccinated per day.

This is an increase from the current 1,000 a day being vaccinated.

The plan will be put in place in the next week.

Mr Cannan added that it is ‘important people utilise the online booking system’ rather than calling 111.

He continued: ‘There is a challenging period ahead of us but one we all need to commit to.

‘We hope to complete the majority of the booster programme by early 2022.’

He said the aim was to have offered jabs to all over-18's by the end of January. The chief minister confirmed there was ‘no shortage of vaccine available’.

Also, all arrivals to the island should take daily lateral flow tests (LFTs) for seven days, on top of any mandatory tests or isolation requirements.

People will now be able to order LFTs on ‘a more frequent basis’.

Mr Cannan said: ‘Omicron is likely to cause a significant wave of Covid cases on IOM.’

’We are carefully monitoring the situation.’