COVID-19 vaccination to be opened to over-30s

Malta will be opening its COVID-19 vaccination programme for vaccinees aged over 30, as the island’s vaccination reaches more universal coverage.

MaltaToday was told that vaccination certificates will be available from end of May.

Maltese residents with vaccination passports will also be allowed to travel to red countries, while at the moment travel to these countries is banned except by permission of the Superintendent for Public Health.

A vaccination certificate shall only be valid for a period of six months.

A digital ‘trust framework’ will be used between countries for the issuance and verification of vaccine certificates, providing for the interoperability, integrity and authenticity of such certificates.

Malta’s vaccination programme is one of the most advanced: cohorts of people aged 50 and recently 40, were asked to register in the month of April alone, as the vaccination rollout proceeds far ahead of schedule, health minister Chris Fearne said.

Yesterday, over 5,000 people were vaccinated in Malta.

Malta is now on course to reach herd immunity by the end of June, and not September, as had previously been planned, because of the accelerated vaccination programme employed.

The authorities’ original plan was to have 80% of over 80s vaccinated by the end of March. But with the fast rollout, 95% of the age group had received the jab by the target date.

Deputy prime minister and health minister Chris Fearne announced on Twitter that Malta has now 270 active cases of coronavirus. He said this was the lowest figure of active cases since August 2020, when public health restrictions were lifted after May and travel tor Malta had resumed.

Two men, aged 70 and 91, died at Mater Dei Hospital while COVID-19 positive. The island registered just 15 new cases between Friday and Saturday, and 74 new recoveries. There have now been a total 30,307 cases and 29,622 recoveries.

Malta has been vaccinating people at a faster rate than any other EU country. As of Saturday, authorities had administered just over 335, 000 vaccine doses in total. More than 107,000 adults are already fully vaccinated. Vaccination is currently open to anyone aged 40 or over, with registration available online or by SMS.