Malta maintains highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in EU

Malta has the highest rate of full coronavirus vaccine coverage within the European Union, according to data compiled by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

With 5.9% of the Maltese population having received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Malta is ahead of Poland with 4.6% and Iceland with 4.5%. The data covers EU countries and the European Economic Area.

Malta also has the highest first dose rate, with 13.5% of the population having received the first dose, followed by Denmark with 10.6% and Cyprus with 9.7%.

Data taken from the ECDC shows the top three countries for first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine

Data taken from the ECDC shows the top three countries for second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine

As of Tuesday, Malta administered 101,776 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, of which 34,181 were second doses.

The three COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the EU so far – Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca – require people to take two doses a number of weeks apart.

The European Medicines Agency is expected to approve a fourth vaccine produced by Janssen on Thursday. This vaccine requires only one shot.

Malta has seen a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, with 248 new cases being registered today along with one death.