98% of people aged 12 and over have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Health Minister Chris Fearne told EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides in a meeting at the Health Ministry in Valletta.

Fearne's main message to the commissioner was that of the successful vaccine rollout, adding that the government will be able to start lifting restrictions because of its large success rate of turnout for the vaccine.

Despite the difficulties the pandemic brought over Europe, Fearne maintained that Europe has had great progress in acquiring the vaccines and started its rollout among its citizens in merely a year.

Fearne said that more than 75% of population is now jabbed against virus

The minister insisted with the commissioner however, 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. He referred to Malta's donation of vaccines to African and Asian countries.

Kyriakides praised Malta's "excellent vaccination programme," adding that the island had been a key player for the recovery of the pandemic.

The EU is looking into a therapeutics rollout programme, Kyriakidou said, highlighting that while the vaccines were important, there is more to be done.