PN leader Bernard Grech has warned that Malta hasn’t won the war against Covid-19 just yet, as he appealed for people to continue to follow the guidelines set out by health authorities to keep the pandemic in check.

In a short telephone interview on NET FM on Sunday, Grech, who is in mandatory quarantine along with his wife, said that even though the vaccine has now arrived and has started to be administered, the war against the pandemic has not been won and that people need to be responsible.

He said that the vaccine is only one way to combat the pandemic, and that the public must continue to be responsible in what they do and how they do it in order to make sure that they continue to follow the guidelines issued by health authorities.

“We haven’t won yet – let’s not get ahead of ourselves; let’s remain vigilant until we can see the effects of the vaccine”, Grech said.

Grech was speaking after the first Covid-19 vaccine was administered in Malta on Sunday morning.

Turning to a story which appeared in the Sunday Times of Malta, wherein it is reported that the police were awaiting the green light from the Prime Minister in order to have access to the phone of Tax Commissioner Marvin Gaerty, Grech said that this story makes it clear that the institutions are not working.

The story reports that Gaerty’s phone may contain conversations where the Prime Minister himself asked about Grech’s tax affairs, affairs which were well documented throughout his ultimately successful leadership campaign.

Grech said that at this stage, he doesn’t wish to comment except to only say that the country’s institutions are not working properly.  If they were, he said, then the police wouldn’t need to wait for the permission of the Prime Minister in order to work on evidence.

He said that if Abela doesn’t have anything to hide, he should give that permission – even if the police should have access to it already by law.

Grech appealed to the police to do its job in accordance with the law and to continue to investigate and charge in court those who broke the law.

Commenting about the Istrina telethon, which raised €6.5 million in funds on Saturday, Grech said that this is evidence that the Maltese are a generous and kind-hearted people which always answers the call for help from those who need it.

Grech closed the ten-minute interview by wishing a 2021 full of good health to the country, hoping for a year when people can hug their nearest and dearest.