People who are considered to be vulnerable will begin receiving appointments to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as from next week, Health Minister Chris Fearne announced on Thursday.

This is two weeks earlier than was scheduled, with the impending arrival of the AstraZeneca vaccines on Sunday key to bringing the schedule forward.

Fearne said that the letters are being sent out in batches, noting that the scheduled vaccination of the medically vulnerable has been brought forward from its original schedule of mid-March.

The use of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be restricted to people aged 55 and under, as studies on its efficacy on older people are not yet sufficient.

Malta has a million vaccines on order from AstraZeneca, but Fearne did not say how many of those were arriving in the country on Sunday.

The vaccine roll-out has started to intensify, with Fearne saying that over 2,000 people were scheduled to get jabbed today.  By this evening, 34,000 doses of the vaccine will have been dispensed.

Malta is in the second phase of the programme, with citizens over 80 years of age and non-medical frontliners beginning to receive the vaccine this week.

Fearne said that 90% of medical frontliners have received their first dose, and some 90% of residents in old people’s homes have also been vaccinated.