During a telephone interview this morning, Prime Minister Robert Abela stressed that Malta is on its way to make a swift recovery from the virus’ damage to the economy.
This morning saw the first person in Malta be administered the Pfizer vaccine, after the first allocation of 10,000 Covid-19 vaccines arrived in Malta yesterday.
Abela spoke about the main events of yesterday in relation to what happened today; when the vaccines arrived in Malta as well as the l-Istrina telethon.
“Thank you very much to the Maltese population for the generosity shown during l-Istrina. We went through a difficult time due to the pandemic, even economically. But this population has great values and they think of others,” Abela said.
Yesterday was dubbed as a historic day, where Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne had noted that “so far we have been defending against the virus, but now we can start attacking.”
“Yesterday the road back to normality started. One of the best presents we can give the population through the vaccines; hope and courage. It is the start of the road to normality.”
Abela noted how difficult it was at the start of his tenure as prime minister following the resignation of former PM Joseph Muscat: “They were 10 months without stop from work. I was prime minister for around only 2 months. We were shutting down a third of the economy by closing the airport. We had tough decisions, but we needed to protect people’s livelihoods.”
The PM also remarked that even though predictions were that unemployment rates would skyrocket; this was not the case. “There were predictions of mass unemployment. But this is not the case today as we introduced measures to safeguard businesses and employment.”
In comparison to other countries, the PM noted how Malta fares off quite well as results show, leaving the country well-prepared to recover faster in economic terms, while other countries were still introducing lockdown restrictions during the festive season; leaving many living in tougher conditions during Christmas.
“I am ready to compare our country to the rest of the world, and we see that the measures worked as the results show. Today, we find our country in pole position to recover economically. Christmas day in other countries was one of the hardest days due to restrictions abroad, in Malta this was not the case. We could let people live close to normality. We will be one of the first countries that recovers economically.”
Covid-19 vaccine inoculations are now to be administered in phases. Hospital front liners, staff and residents in homes for the elderly, mental hospital patients, and those who are aged 85 and over will be inoculated in the first phase of vaccination against Covid-19. The government is aiming to achieve herd immunity by next summer.
The Prime Minister also emphasised prudence in the final stages of this pandemic, as if one lets his guard off, all the work that has been done during the past few month could be wiped out.
“We can’t not stay prudent. We must follow the guidelines of the Health Authorities. We cannot lose what we won these past few months. We need to take care of each other. But today is a day of hope, and a day of courage.”