The Nationalist Party is standing by its call for the government to scrap the vaccine certificate rules which came into force a week ago despite a French study confirming such measures had a positive impact on the economy and health systems.

A PN spokesperson said the party believes the measures introduced on January 17 “were excessive”.

A study by France’s advisory Economic and Social Council on the impact of the vaccine certificates in France, Germany and Italy found that these not only spurred vaccination but resulted in positive health outcomes and also bolstered economic activity.

The number of booster doses administered per day.

In all three countries, vaccine uptake spiked within a few days from the different governments announcing these would become mandatory in various settings. The researchers noted that all three countries later further extended the use of certificates, with changes ranging from their requirement in workplaces to the integration of a booster dose.

In Malta, vaccine certificates became mandatory in a number of establishments, including restaurants, cafes, bars, gyms, cinemas and theatres. A certificate is deemed valid if a second dose was taken in under three months or if a booster dose was taken in the past nine months.

According to Health Minister Chris Fearne, by Saturday evening 75% of the adult population would have been administered the booster dose.

The French study also found that by the end of the year, the impact of making certificates mandatory in certain cases resulted in lower rates of hospitalisation and deaths in all three countries.

The researchers also noted that without the policy intervention, meaning the introduction of the vaccine certificates, the weekly GDP would have been lower in the three countries.

“COVID certificates appear to be an attractive, more inclusive alternative to vaccine mandates, focusing on the added benefits of getting vaccinated or tested rather than punitive measures of not doing so,” the researchers said.

“As countries grapple with the highly contagious Omicron variant, COVID certificates might play a decisive role in increasing and maintaining vaccine-induced protection.

“Nevertheless, governments’ policy decisions on COVID certificates should also consider additional factors, including supply of vaccines and tests, political trust, and accessibility for marginalised groups, to not threaten social cohesion or exacerbate already existing inequities,” they concluded.

PN: Measures remain excessive

A spokesperson for the Nationalist Party said the party “continues to believe that the measures of January 17 should have not been introduced because they were excessive and did not strike the right balance considering the situation in Malta”.

Just days before the new rules took effect, the PN came out against the measure, saying this should be scrapped as it goes against the individual’s freedoms.

“After attacking the PN’s position, the government has now confirmed it will start rolling back the measures, barely five days after introducing them. This confirms the position of the PN, civil society and the business that were against these measures and the way they were imposed.

“The truth is that Malta’s high vaccination take-up rate did not require such stringent measures that threatened people’s jobs and increased discriminatory burdens on establishments which are already struggling to recover business,” the spokesperson said.

He added the party continues to urge people to take the vaccine as well as the booster but it also urges the government to “use persuasion rather than checkmating people, including those who have genuine reasons for not wanting to take it”.

With the updated Maltese certificate strongly linked to the booster dose, many have raised questions whether this was necessary especially since the majority of adults have already taken the additional dose.

An analysis of the data supplied by the health authorities showed that the booster take-up has been climbing for weeks. The number of daily doses of the booster administered accelerated dramatically in December before slowing down in recent days.

One of the main reasons for the increase in the number of doses given per day was undoubtedly Fearne’s announcement that the vaccine certificate would be required for entry into certain establishments. At the same time, the government also significantly bolstered its rollout capabilities, adding several vaccination clinics.

A third reason behind the increase could have been the scrapping of age restrictions. Before mid-December, the booster was given to people depending on their age, with the older cohorts given priority over the younger ones. But as from January 3, anyone over 18 could registered for the booster. The government has since also set up a number of walk in clinics that do not require appointments.