The Covid-19 vaccine is not a circuit breaker and will not reduce numbers in the immediate future, and mitigation measures need to be urgently escalated, the Malta College of Pathologists said.

Calls for the stepping up of restrictive measures have increased after record Covid-19 numbers registered over the past days. Prime Minister Robert Abela said Wednesday that new measures would be announced “in the coming hours.”

The MCP said it was “deeply alarmed” by the rapidly escalating numbers of Covid-19 cases over the last few weeks.  “Although the situation has not been under control since the start of the second wave, it is clear that the token mitigation measures, non-enforcement of restrictions and people letting down their guard is resulting in the rapid spread of the virus.   Hospital admissions increased following the Christmas and New year period and once again after the carnival recess, suggesting that this is the result of gatherings. The impact the UK variant of the virus has is still uncertain.”

The message coming across from government and the health authorities seems to give the impression that the ongoing vaccination programme is the be all and end all of the pandemic, it said. 

“The vaccine is not a mitigation measure and it is not a circuit breaker. It will not reduce numbers in the immediate future, as we have already witnessed.  Mitigation measures need to be urgently escalated, including prohibiting the mixing of families, reducing the numbers of people allowed to aggregate and temporary closing of non-essential services.”

The college said that strict enforcement of measures needs to come into play.  “In particular, with Easter on the horizon, mitigation measures must be escalated during the Easter holidays, including banning of family gatherings, banning holiday travel to Gozo and enforcement of strict measures in restaurants.  Public gatherings must be prohibited, and more emphasis needs to be put on online teaching. In addition, it is crucial that people do not get a false sense of security from being vaccinated, especially with the rise of new virus variants.”

Malta currently has one of the highest rates of Covid-19 infections in Europe and one of the lowest in terms of restriction measures, it said. “Our hospitals are once again struggling to cope with the Covid admissions, our ITUs are nearly full and worryingly, younger patients are now being admitted with complications from the virus.”  

It urged the authorities to take the bull by the horns and take all the necessary measures to reduce the spread of the SARS CoV2 virus before the situation becomes totally unmanageable.