COVID-19: 42% of 40 to 50-year-olds vaccinated with first vaccine dose

Malta's vaccination programme continues to purr along, and the country has now vaccinated 42 per cent of those in the 40+ cohort, 57 per cent of those in the 50+ cohort and 94 per cent of those over 60, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne announced on Thursday.

This already impressive figure is made all the more impressive, when one considers that the country only opened up vaccination registration to people in their 40s from last Friday.

Up till Wednesday, official statistics show that 326,934 doses of the vaccine have been administered, with 104,464 of those being second doses.

Since Malta's vaccination programme began, it has sped ahead of its peers in the EU, and most of the world. Its small size makes the rollout itself easier, and according to Mr Fearne, the Government has ordered as many vaccine doses as it possibly could have.

Additionally, in news welcomed by the local business community, the Government has revealed it is predicting that Malta would reach herd immunity by end-June, with everybody set to be offered at least one dose of a COVID vaccine by mid-August.

Malta's vaccine programme, and the overall reduction in COVID cases it is expected to bring, has been described as essential for the economic recovery of the country.

In particular, the combination of a strong vaccination programme and low case numbers has been cited by tourism stakeholders as a key attraction for foreign tourists to come to Malta, when the country reopens to tourists on 1st June.

While Malta is leading the pack, however, the EU is also set to reach an important milestone in its programme by the end of June, with the majority of its residents projected to be immunised.