Prime Minister Robert Abela has designated May as the month where the COVID-19 pandemic would be spoken about “as a thing of the past”.

The Prime Minister was addressing a political activity on Sunday where he praised his Government’s response to the pandemic.

He compared Malta to the rest of Europe, noting that Malta had managed to keep infection rates stable despite the absence of a total lockdown, with days where the number of recoveries topped the number of infections.

Prime Minister Abela said that January would be the starting point of the recovery thanks to the arrival of the vaccine and the second voucher scheme, which would see €50 million being injected into the ailing economy.

The comments follow the extension of the legal notice mandating the closing down of bars.

The Prime Minister assured listeners that there would be enough doses to inoculate the whole population from one producer alone, with extra doses to spare. He also said that facilities to store the vaccine were already in place.

He warned, however, that COVID-related restrictions would not be lifted immediately.

Addressing concerns about the wage supplement, he said that bars that opened after the first deadline for the scheme had closed would now be eligible. He also put to rest concerns about its eventual end, saying that it would only be phased out once all businesses had recovered.

“We will leave no one behind…With this government, you know where you stand”.