The island of Malta on Friday became the first nation within the European Union to ban unvaccinated visitors as the country grapples with the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
Health Minister Chris Fearne announced the development after virus positives doubled in the small nation. The only exception would be children between the ages of 5 and 12 who are accompanied by fully vaccinated parents, though the minors would need to produce a negative COVID-19 test.
“We will be the first EU country to do so, but we need to protect our society,” Fearne said in a news conference, according to Reuters.
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Malta previously allowed visitors if they either received both vaccine doses or could produce a negative coronavirus screening. Those from the United Kingdom, however, needed to be fully vaccinated due to the high presence of the delta COVID-19 variant that is quickly spreading throughout the world.
The EU took issue with the new measures on Monday as it claimed the provisions may discriminate against those who have not received both doses.
“It is true that member states can put in place restrictions to protect public health, however, any such measure that restricts free movement needs to be proportionate and non-discriminatory,” spokesman Christian Wigand told reporters. “A vaccination certificate cannot be a prerequisite for the exercise of free movement.”
“We have concerns that these measures [discriminate] against those persons that are not fully vaccinated,” he added. “We have therefore taken contact with Malta asking for explanations of these measures.”
Fearne faulted unvaccinated tourists for the rise, particularly students attending English-language schools, which have since been shuttered due to the spike.
A total of 70% of Malta’s residents have received both doses of the vaccine, the highest total in the world, according to the New York Times COVID-19 map. Seventy-four percent have been injected with at least one dose.
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After several days of reporting no new cases in June, the island witnessed 96 new positive cases on Friday.
