The island is well equipped to deal with any possible serious reactions to the coronavirus vaccine, the health minister said.

Kim Wilson cautioned that strong adverse reactions to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 were “rare”.

Common reactions are said to be short-lived and range from fatigue and headaches to muscle pain, joint pain, chills and fever.

But Ms Wilson said tonight that medical staff at vaccination centres monitored recipients of the jab for 15 minutes after the injection.

She added that if anyone experienced “difficulty breathing or any other potentially life-threatening condition, 911 should be called, and the attending physician can then report the event to the Ministry of Health if it occurs following vaccination”.

Ms Wilson said she was “confident that the systems we have in place can determine whether a reported adverse event is associated with the vaccination or coincidental”.

It came as no new coronavirus cases were reported out of the latest 542 test results.

One person has recovered from the virus after updates on Tuesday.

There are eight active cases, with five under public health monitoring, and three being treated in hospital – none in critical care. The last time Bermuda had as few active cases as eight was on October 25.

The island’s total cases of the virus stand at 694, with 674 people recovered and the death toll remaining at 12.