Russians married to Maltese nationals, seeking to be reunited with family in Malta, are facing several obstacles because their vaccine remains unrecognised by the health authorities.
Some say they cannot be reunited with their family and others are being forced to quarantine on arrival and are ineligible for the booster shot, according to Russian embassy press secretary Sergey Skorodumov.
Members of the Russian-Maltese ‘mixed families’ are regularly informing the embassy about the difficulties they face upon arrival from Russia to Malta. This problem is mainly caused by the fact that Russian citizens are mostly vaccinated with the Sputnik and other Russian vaccines, which are not yet recognised in Malta.
“In our view, the process of certification in Malta could be accelerated if the Russian vaccines are given the European Medicine Agency’s approval. We hope that this issue will be solved shortly,” he said.
Alexandr Biketov's wife and son are not allowed to stay with him at his Gżira apartment.One particular case was brought to light last week when Times of Malta reported the case of Ukrainian Alexandr Biketov who wants the health authorities to reconsider quarantine rules after being told his Russian wife and their three-year-old son, who are currently in Russia, would have to spend two weeks in a quarantine hotel.
The mother and son are not allowed to stay with him at the Gżira apartment Biketov has been renting since he moved to Malta in February 2019.
As the Ukrainian father has Maltese residency, he hoped they could quarantine as a family and spend Christmas together. But he says his request was turned down since his wife and son are not residents. Instead, the mother and son are being asked to spend two weeks in isolation at a quarantine hotel and pay €100 a night. He can also keep the child at home with him, while his wife stays in the hotel, at the same cost.
Rigid rules
Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Alexandr has only been able to visit his family in Russia twice in the last two years. Under the current travel rules, anyone travelling from a red-listed country, such as Russia, does not have to quarantine as long as they have a recognised certificate for a vaccine approved by Europe’s medicines watchdog, the European Medicines’ Agency (EMA). Under the rules, Maltese residents returning from a red-listed country can apply to quarantine at home.
Mother and son asked to spend two weeks in isolation at a quarantine hotel
But while Alexandr’s wife is fully vaccinated, she was administered the Sputnik jab, which is not on the approved list, meaning she must quarantine. And, since she is not yet a resident – a process she will start once she arrives in Malta – she is not eligible to apply to quarantine at home.
While the rules work in some situations, the rigid application does not cater for the particular circumstances of certain people – like Alexandr and his family – who have a home in Malta even though they are not all residents yet.
Times of Malta has reached out to the health authorities about Alexandr’s case, no reply was received.
No EMA-approved vaccine, no booster
Meanwhile, a Maltese man who is married to a Russian woman contacted Times of Malta to complain that his wife, who got the Sputnik jab, is not eligible for the booster currently being rolled out to her age group.
A health ministry spokesperson confirmed that people covered by COVID vaccines that are not recognised by the Maltese health authorities are not eligible for a booster shot.
They will first have to get vaccinated with a recognised vaccine before they can take the booster, a health ministry spokesperson said.
Those whose vaccine was approved by the World Health Organisation can get a booster dose of one of the four vaccines approved by the EU.
At the moment, the EMA has authorised the following for use in the EU: Pfizer, Moderna AtraZeneca and Janssen. Other vaccines, like Sputnik, are under review by the EMA. The WHO-approved vaccines are those by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Janssen, Covishield, Sinopharm, Sinovac and Bharat Biotech.