4% of Maltese in a Eurobarometer survey said they do not want to take the Covid-19 vaccine, while another 5% said they don’t know or prefer not to answer.

The survey was conducted across the 27 Member States in May.

Across the EU, 9% of respondents said they do not want to take the jab.

Participants were also given a number of reasons on why they may have opted to take the vaccine and were asked whether they agreed or disagreed.

81% said that protecting relatives was a ‘very important’ reason why they took the vaccine, and 15% said it was ‘rather important.’

68% answered ‘very important’ when asked if the reason was to protect themselves against Covid-19, while 25% said it was ‘rather important.’

Almost 90% of respondents agreed that one of the reasons they took the jab was to be able to resume a more normal professional life.

85% agreed that one of the reasons was that it would make it possible for them to travel again. 95% said they took it so they would be able to meet family and friends, and 86% agreed that one of the reasons was that they could go to places such as restaurants, cinemas or sports facilities.

Earlier this month, Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne told The Malta Independent that the government was set to start specifically targeting people who were refusing to take the jab or who had simply not gotten round to it for a variety of reasons.