Over 35,000 non-Maltese people have been vaccinated in Malta and contributed to Malta's successful vaccine rollout, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Chris Fearne confirmed on Tuesday.

Fearne shared the statistic while responding to a parliamentary question posed by PN MP Ivan Bartolo. Bartolo asked Fearne if he could disclose how many foreign people have been vaccinated against Covid in Malta.

In response, Fearne said that a total of 35,627 non-Maltese people have had at least one dose of the vaccine in Malta thus far.

He confirmed that this number was gathered according to the identity cards of the individuals when they received their vaccination.

Non-Maltese people are eligible for the vaccine if they hold a residence permit, or else are in the process of obtaining a residence permit.

On Tuesday, Fearne and Superintendent of Health Charmaine Gauci announced that Malta is the first country in Europe to reach herd immunity, with 70% of the population receiving at least one dose of the vaccine. 42% of the population, they said, are fully vaccinated so far.