Fully vaccinated people will be allowed to attend standing events such as concerts and festivals as from September 6, Health Minister Chris Fearne announced on Tuesday.

Fearne said that the number of attendees will initially be restricted to 100 people.

Addressing a press conference announcing the opening of a new community clinic in Kalkara, Fearne said that the decision had been made after discussions with the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts association (MEIA).

The MEIA has long been advocating for a restart to standing events, saying that with the current number of cases and, more importantly, the country’s vaccination rate, standing events should be allowed to proceed.

As had already been announced, the number of people who can attend seated events will, from next week, go up from 300 to 500.

Fearne also announced that from 13 September a third booster vaccine dose will be given to categories of people who are immunosuppressed and who are residing in elderly homes.

The booster dose is also being considered for people who are 70 or over. With regard to the vaccine certificate, the two doses version will remain applicable as the third booster is only for the vulnerable. 

Fearne stated 80-90% of critical cases in Malta are patients who are unvaccinated. Fearne encouraged people who had not taken the vaccine to take the jab as this would reduce the risk of contagion or of complications.  

Fearne said that almost 800,000 doses of the vaccine have now been administered, and that 60,000 doses have been administered through the government's walk-in clinics.

Fearne said that the health authorities are sticking to three important principles: giving the chance for students of all educational levels to go and attended their classes in a physical manner, safeguarding the livelihood of people and the continuation of the vaccination programme. 

When asked about a system of hybrid teaching when schools are reopened in September and if the health authorities were considering disallowing unvaccinated teachers from going to classes as will be the case in Italy, Fearne said that vaccination is not mandatory and thus unvaccinated teachers could work in schools.