Malta will reach another vaccination milestone in the coming days as 70% of its adult population will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Health Minister Chris Fearne said on Thursday. 

He also confirmed children aged between 12 and 15 will start receiving their invites to get the jab on Monday. 

Fearne gave the update on the pandemic while opening a new health centre in Marsaxlokk. 

Earlier, he revealed that there were no new infections detected overnight, the third time in five days this had happened. Fearne also announced the death of an 82-year-old man who died of the virus despite having been fully vaccinated some months ago and contracting the virus before. 

Speaking on the overall situation, Fearne again said the pandemic in Malta is "under control", unlike some countries that were still struggling to keep up with new cases.

Instead, Fearne said, Malta's hottest issue right now was whether the reopening could be speedier. 

He again insisted the authorities need to take a cautious approach to ensure people's health remains a priority. 

The minister said the health authorities were also monitoring the situation in the UK, where despite the percentage of vaccines given is similar to Malta's, the country is dealing with a spike in numbers because of the Delta variant. 

Opening of new centre

On the new centre at Marsaxlokk, Fearne said this is part of the government's efforts to provide more services in the community. 

The minister said that later on in summer, centres in Santa Luċija, Kalkara and for the first time, Valletta, will also open their doors. 

Projects are also under way in Marsascala and Siġġiewi, he said, while the works on the Gżira centre are also nearing completion. 

Fearne said the project was funded using money from the National Development and Social Fund. 

On this, parliamentary secretary Alex Muscat said such centres served as an example of the benefits of having the fund in place.