Some three per cent of Malta’s population has been inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine, Health Minister Chris Fearne said, putting the country among the front-runners in Europe’s campaign against the virus.

Speaking on TVM’s Xtra on Thursday, Fearne said the vaccination programme is moving as planned. Other countries have barely reached two per cent of their population, he said. “With 2.7%, Malta is one of the countries with the highest reach.”

In simple numbers, around 13,000 persons would have received the inoculation by the end of the week. An additional 13,000 vaccines have been retained to administer the second dose to people who have already been vaccinated in three weeks’ time.

Another shipment of 15,000 vaccines is expected Monday.

Apart from the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, Malta would benefit from the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as soon as the European Medicines Agency approves it. The authorisation is expected by the end of January.

“By the end of this month, 70% of healthcare workers will have been vaccinated and by mid-February, every healthcare worker will have received the vaccine,” Fearne said.

He saidresidents at St Vincent de Paul will also receive the vaccination by the end of this month, with other elderly care homes receiving it by the end of February.

“People in the community over the age of 85 have started to receive the vaccine and all of them will have been inoculated by the end of this month,” the minister said.

September has been identified as the month by when herd immunity would be reached and the end of the year for all the population to be inoculated. However, these targets only took into account the availability of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The timeframes could be brought forward when more vaccines become available.