Almost everyone agrees that only fully vaccinated travellers should visit Malta

Even before Chris Fearne announced that Malta will only allow fully vaccinated travellers to enter, a MaltaToday survey had found that almost everyone agreed with such a measure.

The survey was carried out between 28 June and 6 July as tourist arrivals started to soar and COVID-19 cases started touching double numbers for the first time in months.

Active cases have climbed to over 600, according to the latest figures issued by the health ministry.

Asked whether they agreed whether people entering Malta should be fully vaccinated, an overwhelming 95.8% said yes. Only 2.2% disagreed with the suggestion, while 2% were unsure.

Agreement with such a measure was uniformly strong across all age groups and among men and women.

On a regional basis, Gozo registered the ‘lowest’ support at 84.4%, with 10.4% of Gozitans unsure whether they agreed with the proposal.

Political allegiance made no difference either – 96.9% of PN voters in the 2017 election and 97.9% of Labour voters agreed that travellers to Malta should be fully vaccinated.

Before Friday, travellers to Malta could come here if they had a negative PCR test taken not more than 72 hours before entering the island. Travellers could also present a COVID vaccine certificate showing they have taken two jabs. The arrangements were in line with the EU Green Pass.

However, in the wake of two consecutive days where COVID-19 infections soared as a result of imported cases, Health Minister Chris Fearne and Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci announced on Friday that only fully vaccinated travellers will be allowed into Malta.

Malta is the first EU country to impose the vaccine certificate as the only valid requirement for travellers wanting to enter the country.

Fearne announced that English language schools were to close on 14 July, with students attending these schools having been the principle cause for the latest surge.

The MaltaToday survey was carried out well before last Friday’s press conference but the results paint a picture of a nation that still values a cautious approach to reopening, especially in the tourism sector.

The survey polled 651 respondents who were chosen randomly and stratified according to region, age and gender. The margin of error is 4.9%.