If the number of Covid-19 cases remains consistently high over the coming days, then the government may be constrained to implementing more restrictive measures to stop the spread of the virus and alleviate pressure on Malta's hospitals, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Wednesday.
Fearne was addressing a press conference on the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine in Malta, but also referred to the number of cases reported by health authorities - which stood at a record high of 224.
He said that the increase in cases had been pinned down to three principal factors: the amount of people who met behind closed doors over the course of the festive period, which happened in spite of warnings by health authorities; the recent drop in temperature, which can increase how transmissable the virus is; and the presence of the new variant of Covid-19, which originated from the UK, in Malta and which was detected recently.
He said that in the coming days, the more defining factors behind the increase will become more apparent.
Fearne said that if the main reason for the increase was activities over the course of the festive period, then the number of cases being found should subside within the coming days. However, Fearne said that if either of the remaining two factors - the temperature or the new variant - are found to be the driving force behind the increase, then in the coming days "we may have to take more measures to safeguard the health of the public and to make sure our hospitals can continue to function."
Fearne lays out vaccine timetable
During the press conference, Fearne also laid out the timetable for how Malta will be rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine.
So far, Fearne noted, only the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has been approved by the European Medicines Agency for use, however he said that the Moderna vaccine is expected to be approved by the EMA within the coming hours.
Fearne said that from just the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, Malta will have a total of 770,000 vaccine doses available by the end of 2021. This does not include vaccines from other companies, such as AstraZeneca - of which Malta has a million doses on order - and PureVac, which have not been approved yet.
Giving a timeline, Fearne said that by the end of January, Malta will have 32,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the country.
He outlined that in the first week of vaccination, 1,400 doses had been administered. By the end of the second week - which is this current week - 4,000 doses will have been adminsitered. This number will increase to 8,200 doses by the end of the third week.
The second dose of the vaccine will start to be administered during the fourth week, by the end of which 16,000 doses will have been administered. By the end of the fifth week, a total of 21,000 vaccine doses will have been administered. The remaining doses will be reserved to be administered as second doses for those who had already gotten the vaccine.
Fearne said that when only taking the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines into consideration: Malta will have 95,000 doses by the end of March, 290,000 doses by the end of June, 500,000 by the end of September, and 770,000 by the end of 2021.
With just these two vaccines in mind, Malta is expected to achieve herd immunity by the end of summer, Fearne said. He added however that the approval of other vaccines - especially that of AstraZeneca - will see herd immunity achieved before that.
During the conference, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen tweeted a statement that the European Medicines Association (EMA) had just approved the Moderna vaccine for use.
When asked by this newsroom, Fearne said that once the EMA has approved the use of the Moderna vaccine, it is expected that this vaccine will start to arrive in the country by the end of next week.
This is part of the process were all the European countries accept the verdict of the EMA and approve the vaccine for use in their specific countries. This approval from the EU Commission will be done by today.
During the final phase of the press conference where journalists asked their respective questions, a number of topics were touched upon such as schools reopening, elderly homes, vaccination programs and also the Covid-19 variant.
Regarding the reopening of schools, both Fearne and Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci rejected claims that they gave advice for schools not to reopen. Gauci went on to explain that strict measures for students to go back to school are being taken.
With regards to the vaccination programme, multiple questions arose as to why more Covid-19 vaccines weren’t being given on a daily basis.
Fearne answered by giving certain information about the vaccine; firstly he said, the Pfizer vaccine is arriving in the country in batches every week and since there is a process which needs to be followed to make use of the vaccine, it takes time and attention to detail. Other countries are rushing, he said, which has meant that thousands of vaccines are being disposed of due to improper preparation.
Malta as of yet has not wasted a single dose from the Pfizer vaccine, Fearne said.
The second reason as to why the vaccine is being given in a staggered approach is due to the fact that the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine has to be reserved for whoever took the first vaccine. Out of the 21,000 vaccines which will be given by the end of January, 5,000 of those will be patients receiving their second dose of the vaccine.
Gauci went on to say that with regards to the elderly homes, they are currently in the first cohort of vaccinations. Although these people are being vaccinated, Gauci said that they still have to be protected until herd immunity is achieved.
With regards to the Covid-19 variant, Gauci confirmed that there are 3 positive cases currently in Malta. Fearne went on to explain how the vaccine for Covid-19 is effective on the variant. He went on to say that the only differences are the increased rate of transmission; as of yet no increased symptoms or more serious reactions were seen.
The press conference can be followed live below: