Malta’s Health Minister Chris Fearne told parliament on Monday details of Malta’s Covid-19 vaccination strategy.
Addressing parliament, Deputy Prime Minisiter Fearne said that the country had secured more doses than the total population, thanks to an EU joint procurement mechanism.
The first doses of the Pfizer vaccine will reach Malta in the first days of January. Doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected in early February.
According to the statement given in Parliament the first to get the vaccine will be the healthcare workers in public and private hospitals; staff and residents in homes for the elderly and mental hospital patients; and people aged 85 and over.
In February, the following will be vaccinated, all other frontliners and people aged over 80;
The third cohort will include people with chronic illness; people aged over 70 and staff at schools and childcare centres;
The fourth cohort, made of people over 55, will follow.
Those in the first group of persons eligible for the vaccine will receive an invitation indicating a place and time from when they can receive the vaccine. The letter will also indicate when the second dose can be taken, as the two have to be given 21 days apart. The vaccine will be available for distribution at a variety of centres around Malta, including a centre in Gozo, but this will be limited to health centres in order to ensure that the cold chain is maintained. An outreach team will be available for those unable to leave their house, so that they can receive the vaccine under supervision while in the safety of their home. A communication channel will be set up in case a patient needs to postpone their vaccine appointment.
While the vaccine won’t be mandatory, the health department will be setting up a campaign on the importance of receiving the vaccine.
