Malta has been allocated 330,000 doses of a potential Covid-19 vaccine through an agreement reached by the European Commission with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. Through the contract, EU member states will be able to purchase 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, should it come to fruition, with an option for a further million doses.
These are to be distributed on a population-based pro-rata basis, and Health Minister Chris Fearne confirmed that Maltàs allocation is just under a third of a million doses.
Fearne emphasised that front-line workers and the vulnerable would be prioritised for vaccination until enough doses are acquired to immunise the entire population.
Meanwhile, the number of active cases of Covid-19 in Malta fell by 31 overnight, as health authorities have reported 27 new cases and 58 recoveries. According to the health authorities, the latest number of active cases now stands at 593. The new cases were identified through 2,290 swab tests carried out over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of swab tests carried out in Malta up to 186,644.
Malta has reported 1,847 cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. 1,244 patients have since recovered, but the pandemic has claimed 10 lives.
(ITALPRESS/MNA).
