COVID-19 Test and Trace and Vaccination Programmes

Background

Both the Test and Trace and the Vaccination Programmes have been key tools as part of the Government of Jersey’s COVID-19 pandemic strategy. 

The Government of Jersey spent over £20.2 million on the Test and Trace Programme during 2020 and a further £41.7 million during 2021. At 31 December 2021, a total of £61.9 million has been spent on the Test and Trace Programme. A further £20 million of funding has been allocated to the programme in the Government Plan 2022-25. 

At 31 December 2021, over £5 million had been spent on the Vaccination Programme against a budget of £5.5 million. A further £6.7 million has been allocated to the Vaccination Programme in the Government Plan for 2022-25 giving an overall programme total of up to £12.2 million. 

Scope

The review has evaluated:  

Test and Trace Programme  

• set up of the programme 
• governance of the programme 
• changes to objectives and purpose of the programme as the pandemic progressed 
• funding of the programme 
• the commercial arrangements put in place
• testing capacity, activity, performance and effectiveness 
• advice given to the public in the event of a positive test
• contact tracing capacity, activity, performance and effectiveness 
• the impact of the programme on children, young adults, those with learning disabilities and ethnic minority groups; and 
• the monitoring of inequalities. 

Vaccination Programme  

• the Government’s approach to the identification and authorisation of potential vaccines 
• set up of the Vaccination Programme
• governance of the programme 
• liaison with delivery agencies 
• funding of the programme 
• the commercial arrangements put in place 
• the arrangements for deployment of the vaccines 
• effectiveness of communications 
• performance and effectiveness of the programme 
• monitoring of vaccine safety 
• the impact of the programme on children, young adults, those with learning disabilities and ethnic minority groups 
• the monitoring of inequalities; and 
• the challenges that the Government needed to manage as it deployed the vaccine

Conclusions

The Government of Jersey moved at pace to establish a large scale Island-wide Test and Trace Programme in the spring of 2020. The programme established was extensive. Over the course 2021 however there have been times when the programme has not kept pace with the pandemic.  

The Government of Jersey performed well to deliver an effective Vaccination Programme under very tight time constraints. The delivery of the Vaccination Programme in Jersey has, in overall terms, been effective.