91% of medical frontliners have accepted and indeed have been vaccinated against Covid-19, Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Chris Fearne said in Parliament on Monday.

Replying to a parliamentary question by PN MP Maria Deguara, Fearne said that there were frontliners who had not taken the vaccine due to medical reasons, and there were others which have not confirmed whether they will take the vaccine or not.

Asked what the government’s policy on frontliners who refused to take the Covid-19 vaccine is and whether they will be allowed to remain in direct contact with patients or residents at old people’s homes, Fearne reminded that the government is offering the vaccine on a voluntary basis.

He said that this voluntary proviso is applicable to healthcare workers even if they work with patients or in elderly homes.

He said that those who do not get vaccinated will still continue working as before because the infection control protocols are effective to avoid the spread of infection.

Fearne noted that these frontliners will still have the chance to get vaccinated.

Till yesterday, 51,641 doses of the Covid vaccine have been administered, of which 16,265 are second doses.

Malta is currently two weeks ahead of schedule in the its vaccination programme as the vulnerable start receiving letters of appointment to get the jab.

The country currently has three vaccines available for use: the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, and the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A fourth vaccine – the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine – is expected to be approved for use by European medical authorities in March.