Watch: Omicron fears lead to increase in booster uptake

Concerns about the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 have raised interest in the vaccination booster jabs and take-up has already reached 30% of the adult population, Superintendent of Public Health, Charmaine Gauci has said.

Speaking on Times of Malta’s Ask Charmaine programme, she confirmed that no case of the variant has been detected in Malta yet.

She also announced that parents will be notified in the coming days about the vaccination of children aged 5-11 and she strongly urged them to accept the invitation. This, she stressed, is a vaccination that has been well tested and its safety profile is very good. Furthermore, the benefits are clear.

Those benefits could also be seen in Malta where there has been a sharp difference in the number of infections among children aged over 12 who, in the majority, have been vaccinated, and the younger ones, in primary schools, who have not.

The clusters seen in primary schools so far have not been large – not more than five in all cases thanks to precautions taken in schools, she said. Still, young children should be vaccinated to avoid disease, complications – although none have been seen in Malta so far – and to prevent spread and...