Malta Will Receive COVID-19 Vaccine Days After Its Release, Chris Fearne Says
Health Minister Chris Fearne told Times of Malta that the islands will start receiving the COVID-19 vaccine “within days of its release”.
Only yesterday it was announced that the vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was found to be 90% effective.
Back in August, Fearne had confirmed that Malta has been allocated a total of 330,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
If drug authorities give the vaccine the green light, the shot may even be available by the end of 2020.
The European Union has confirmed that it is close to signing a contract with the aforementioned pharmaceutical companies in a bid to secure 300 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
From 43,000 participants in the vaccine trial, the study looked at 94 people who were given the two-dose vaccine and were found to be protected from the virus 28 days after their first inoculation.
The vaccine is expected to be submitted to health authorities for emergency approval in the third week of November. Other companies working on a vaccine, like Moderna or AstraZeneca, will not be expecting results for at least a few more weeks.