Establishments hosting up to 300 vaccinated, seated and masked people will, as of Monday, be able to do away with social-distancing precautions, Chris Fearne told Parliament.

The health minister said COVID rules will start being eased for restaurants, każini and weddings among others, and if the number of new cases remained stable, measures will also be lifted for stand-up events from mid-November.

He warned that staff also needed to be fully vaccinated.

Fearne said he was hoping that as long as the COVID situation remained stable, Malta could return to pre-COVID social gatherings for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

COVID boosters

Referring to COVID vaccinations, he told Parliament that all elderly home residents and two-thirds of those aged over 70 had received a booster jab so far.

All those aged over 70 should receive an invitation for the jab by the second week of November.

As of November 15, healthcare workers, pharmacists, carers, teachers and those living in institutions will start receiving the third vaccination.

Those aged between 60 and 70 will start being offered the booster from December 14.

The flu jab started being offered to those aged 55 and over as of today. 

Malta has so far avoided a spike in new COVID cases across Europe but Fearne is urging eligible people to accept their booster appointments. 

 

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