La VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Malta recieved the first consignment of Covid-19 vaccine on Saturday morning A Cessna plane with around 10,000 doses landed at the Malta International Airport at around 11am. The doses were flown from a Pfizer factory in Puurs Belgium through Amsterdam.
Malta is set to start its mass vaccination programme on Sunday.
Around 600,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech will be shipped to Malta over the coming weeks and months. Malta secured a total of 600,000 doses from Pfizer-BioNTech. If the European Medicines Authority approve Modernàs and AstraZeneca vaccine, these will also be available. In total, Malta has more than one million doses on order.
The Maltese general public will start receiving the vaccine by April. Health Minister Chris Fearne explained that those who will receive the vaccination will also receive a health certificate. He added that at a European level, a discussion on whether to issue a vaccine passport has initiated.
Prime Minister Robert Abela urged the public to remain vigilant and not to let down their guard. “The road to normality begins today,” he stressed while urging the public to remain cautious.
Superintendent of Public Health Professor Charmaine Gauci urged the public to get vaccinated.
The World Health Organisation’s regional director, Hans Kluge, congratulated Maltàs health leadership ahead of the rolling out of the mass vaccination programme.
Visibly emotional, the health minister asked for a few minutes of silence to honour the Covid-19 victims. He acknowledged that while it is a day to celebrate the arrival of the vaccine, families have lost their loved ones to the pandemic. Up to now, 206 patients lost their life.
Malta has registered a total of 12,241 positive cases. 1,485 cases remain active.
(ITALPRESS).