People aged 16 and over can register for COVID-19 vaccine from Monday

People over the age of 16 will be able to register for the COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, Health Minister Chris Fearne announced.

Fearne was speaking at a press conference on the occasion of International Nurses Day.

As of right now, the vaccine is not available for those under the age of 16. However, the health authorities are in talks with the European Medicines Agency over whether over 12s will be able to take it.

Fearne said that Malta was seeing a steady decline in the number of infections. He said this downward trend could be attributed to the successful vaccination programme and the COVID-19 measures, which were put into place in March.

Fearne warned that despite some COVID-19 measures being eased, the public should remain vigilant. “People should still be wary of gathering in large numbers in closed spaces such as household gatherings,” he said.

Fearne said Malta was the first European Union country to open up the vaccine to the entire population.

Currently, registration is open for all those over 30. He said that 56% of those in the 30-39 age group have been vaccinated or registered for the vaccine and would be vaccinated in the coming days.

Fearne also confirmed that Malta has no cases of the Indian variant. The health minister thanked nurses and all medical frontliners for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Fearne also announced that the COVID-19 vaccine boosters for the winter season have already been ordered. He said this is because it is not known yet how long the vaccines would offer immunity for - therefore, the government has already made arrangements for booster shots to be delivered to Malta in autumn. 

"We have ordered enough doses so that we have for children as well as booster doses until the year finishes. For 2022 and 2023, we will have half a million doses ordered just in case we need it, and which might possibly be adapted to new variants,” Fearne said. 

Applicants for the vaccine can sign up either by sending an SMS with their ID card or by filing an online form at vaccin.gov.mt.