Health authorities have begun rolling out the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, with Malta procuring 10,000 doses so far.

A total of three consignments have arrived so far with further consignments expected to arrive in Malta every 15 days, health authorities confirmed with Lovin Malta. 

“We started using Johnson and Johnson today. The first consignments were very small. We waited for the third consignment so we have 10,000 doses in hand,” Health Minister Chris Fearne said at a press conference earlier today. 

Johnson & Johnson is the fourth vaccine to arrive in Malta after Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. 

As of this week, Malta opened its vaccination programme to people aged 30 and over. 

There are currently 260 active cases of Covid-19 on the island, 67 percent of which are of the UK variant. A total of 20 people have been infected with the Brazil variant and just five with the South Africa variant. 

Malta is currently sequencing all positive Covid-19 tests to help identify different strains of the virus.

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