Shadow Health Minister Insists Tourists Must Be Vaccinated One Day After PN Describes Restriction As ‘Extreme’
Shadow Health Minister Stephen Spiteri has come out in favour of the upcoming travel ban on non-vaccinated people, one day after the PN described the restriction as “extreme”.
In a Facebook post, Spiteri said that Malta must adopt a “super cautious” stance towards the pandemic and that anticipating the future is crucial to maintain stability.
“Importation of COVID-19 variants at our ports is a real threat,” he said. “In fact it happened over this last week, disrupting our stable state of affairs, our reassurance!”
“Let’s be super cautious. Tourists entering our country must be vaccinated. It’s not fair on us. We must protect our herd immunity, reducing local transmissions. Public health is our priority. This only guarantees a prosperous economy.”
Spiteri’s position seems to contradict the Nationalist Party’s policy, which described the blanket ban as an “extreme” measure that discriminates against people who cannot get vaccinated, people who haven’t seen their relatives in a while and Maltese people who live in countries with lower vaccination rates.
It proposed an alternative system whereby vaccinated people will have to present a negative PCR test taken 72 hours before arrival as well as a vaccine certificate. The party said non-vaccinated travellers should be allowed so long as they present a negative PCR test and are tested again at the airport.
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