Covid-19 vaccinations have begun to be administered in Gozo as Malta’s vaccination programme starts to ramp up.

In a social media post heralding the start of the third day of the administration of Covid-19 vaccinations, the Central Procurement and Supplies Unit (CPSU) confirmed that vaccines will start to be administered in Gozo today.

The vaccination itself was broadcasted live by the government on its social media platform, with Felicienne Cini, a nurse working at Gozo General Hospital, the first to receive the vaccine in the presence of Prime Minister Robert Abela, Health Minister Chris Fearne, and Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri.

The first vaccine was administered on Sunday to Rachel Grech, a staff nurse at the Infectious Diseases Unit at Mater Dei Hospital.

After receiving the vaccine, she spoke of her hope that her experience will encourage Maltese and Gozitans to get vaccinated when they can do so. 

Virologist Chris Barbara was the first high-profile medical figure to receive the vaccine yesterday.

The start of the vaccination process in Gozo means that the vaccines are currently arriving where they should be arriving on schedule: Health Minister Chris Fearne announced last week that immunisations at the Gozo General Hospital on 29 December. 

Vaccinations have already started being administered to those working within the IDU and ITU wards at Mater Dei Hospital along with those wards which are treating Covid-19 patients. 

As per Fearne’s announce last week, workers and residents at St. Vincent de Paule will be offered the vaccine from 1 January, while the first appointment letters will be sent out to people over the age of 85 on 7 January. 

The letters will include the time and place of the appointments for both of the required vaccine doses. 

The vaccination process will then move on in stages depending on how quickly Pfizer and other vaccine makers such as Moderna, which could get EU approval in the first week of the New Year, can supply the vaccine to Malta. 

Malta received 10,000 vaccines last Saturday, with Pfizer from then on scheduled to send batches of vaccines to Malta every Monday – although the batch scheduled to arrive this week will be arriving today as opposed to yesterday, with a ministry spokesperson telling the Times of Malta that this was due to a “minor logistical issue”.  

The government has said that it is confident that the whole of Malta's population can be vaccinated by summer.