Malta will join the rest of the EU in vaccinating against COVID-19 from December 27, Health Minister Chris Fearne has confirmed.
The exact start date was announced by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a tweet on Thursday.
"It's Europe's moment. On 27, 28 and 29 December vaccination will start across the EU," she tweeted.
First in line for the jab will be the groups most vulnerable to COVID-19: those aged over 85, healthcare workers in hospitals and people living or working in homes for the elderly.
“The plan is for all EU countries to vaccinate on the same day," Fearne told Times of Malta.
"So on the 21st of December we’re expecting authorisation from the European Medicines Association and after EMA authorisation is endorsed by EU Commission and Member states, we are expecting the first doses to arrive on the 27th.”
Asked how many doses would initially arrive on the island, Fearne didn't give figures but said it would arrive in "small batches" partially because of the need for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be transported in low temperatures.
"We're going to consider the first few days as a Europe-wide test run," he said.
"Once the number of doses we receive increases, we will keep on going according to our schedule in the weeks and months to come."
In Malta the vaccine will be distributed in five stages. After the first cohort, those aged over 80 and remaining frontliners will be immunised. People with chronic illnesses, anyone aged over 70 and staff at schools and childcare centres will follow.
The over 55s will be vaccinated after that, followed by the rest of the population.
Fearne was previously among health ministers to question the EU's delay, after Britain used emergency powers to secure the vaccine for its population.
The original dates for approval were going to be December 29 with vaccination starting on January 7.
"The earlier dates came through because the EMA reviews their processes to try and find a way to accelerate the process without diminishing the standards and they found a way to achieve this," he said.
The European Commission has sealed contracts with seven suppliers of potential vaccines to ensure all adult EU citizens will eventually be able to be inoculated