Herd immunity, achieved by Malta earlier this week, was a big milestone in the fight against COVID-19 but it was not the end, the Superintendent of Public Health, Charmaine Gauci, said on Wednesday.

Speaking in the popular Ask Charmaine programme hosted by Times of Malta, she also revealed that more than half of people aged over 16 had applied to be vaccinated since applications for that age cohort started.

This, she said, was very encouraging, especially when compared to the situation abroad.

Watch the programme below. 

Gauci stood by the definition of ‘herd immunity’ once 70% of the adult population had received the first jab of the vaccine, although she did not use the term herself.

She said this yardstick was established in a lot of scientific fora and was based on vaccination levels, the efficacy of the vaccines and the transmissibility of the virus.

She pointed out that the first dose of the vaccines yielded a substantial level of immunity and, in Malta, a high percentage of the adult population had also been given the second dose of the vaccine.

So why were restrictions still being kept in place? Gauci was asked.

She explained that 30 per cent of the adult population had not taken the vaccine yet, and the younger age groups were not protected yet.  The vaccination rate therefore needed to be raised even further.

Malta is set to roll out a vaccination programme for those aged over 12 once the European Medicines Agency gave its go-ahead, possibly after a meeting on Friday, she said.

The COVID-19 restrictions would continue to be eased gradually, with the least possible risks.

It was for this reason, she explained in reply to another question, that post-secondary students were still not being allowed back in class. One needed to consider that just one case would send a whole class into quarantine, forcing those students to miss their exams, she said.

She stressed that mask-wearing will continue to apply, even after July 1, for those who had not been vaccinated and people in the company of those who had not been vaccinated. Mask wearing will apply to groups of more than two.

But children aged 11 or younger would not need to wear a mask if accompanied by vaccinated adults.

Pregnant women, who have not been vaccinated, need to continue to wear a mask for their own safety.

Further relaxation of measures regarding people in old people’s homes are due to be announced shortly, she said.   

UK travel

Asked about the situation regarding travel to and from the UK, especially in view of the Indian variant of COVID-19, she said the situation is being monitored very closely by Malta, and indeed by the European medical authorities. 

She pointed out, however, that the ‘positivity rate’ – the number of cases found as a percentage of tests – was still very low in the UK.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and react accordingly if required,” she said. 

She confirmed that as of next week, anyone boarding a plane or ship for Malta will need to have been vaccinated or produce a negative test result.  

Gauci was interviewed by Times of Malta news editor Diana Cacciottolo.

 

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