98% of Maltese aged 12 upwards have taken two COVID-19 vaccine doses

98% of people aged 12 and over have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Health Minister Chris Fearne said during a meeting with EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides on Thursday.

The health minister said that over three-quarters of the population was now jabbed against the virus. He praised the successful vaccine rollout, citing that it was why the government was lifting restrictions in February.

Fearne said that despite the difficulties the pandemic brought over Europe, the continent had made significant progress in acquiring the vaccines and started its rollout among its citizens in merely a year.

The health minister also said that 76% of those over 18 had received the COVID-19 booster.

He insisted that Europe must not limit the accessibility to the jabs to European citizens but rather move beyond that and help other parts of the world. Fearne highlighted Malta’s donation of vaccines to African and Asian countries.

As of yesterday, 1,203,550 doses of the COVID-19 have been administered, of which 327,112 were booster doses.