The Council of Ministers is exploring holding the 2021 TT later than its usual early summer fortnight.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said a final decision on the TT could be ’imminent’ but that discussions were ongoing.

There have been suggestions that with the Covid-19 vaccination roll out on the horizon, the government may look at moving the races from May/June to the back end of the summer.

At this week’s Covid-19 briefing Mr Quayle was asked if a decision had been made on the races and if the planned vaccine roll out would make it possible to operate the annual festival later in the year.

The Chief Minister said: ’I will confirm we are discussing this in the Council of Ministers at this moment in time but I can’t announce a decision at this moment.

’We are going to try to make it as fairly imminently as possible once a conclusion have been reached and I will obviously update everyone, or the Minister for Enterprise [Laurence Skelly] will update when we can release that information.’

Mr Quayle added that there a ’number of options from cancelling it to moving it’ but that the government also had to factor in the racing schedule elsewhere in the world, whether teams will be able to compete and if accommodation providers and the Steam Packet could ensue the event could be held.

The Chief Minister also provided an update on the preparations being put in place for a mass vaccine roll out in the island and warned it will be a slow process with the island securing a ’proportional’ amount of vaccines from the UK.

Mr Quayle said the vaccine roll out would first be offered in care homes and to nursing staff before moving onto other vulnerable groups, ’don’t expect everyone to be vaccinated by middle of January’ he warned.

He added: ’In Tynwald this week, four sets of regulations under the Medicines Act were approved, putting in place the appropriate legal framework to enable us to deliver a mass vaccination programme on the island.

’Work continues at pace on planning for mass Covid-19 vaccination, with a dedicated Vaccination Programme Board established and meeting regularly.

’The rapid developments we are seeing with vaccines are hugely encouraging and offer a real glimmer of hope in the coming year.

’But we still have a long way to go and I must temper expectations. This may - in time - be a silver bullet, but it will not be a speeding one.

â?¢ As of 4pm on Thursday, November 19, there are nine active cases of Covid-19, eight of whom are self-isolating and one is in hospital.