This is an unprecedented decision in Europe.
Malta announced on Friday to close its borders to unvaccinated travelers, claiming to be the first European country to take such a step.
"From Wednesday 14 July, anyone arriving in Malta must present a recognized vaccination certificate: a Maltese certificate, a British certificate or a certificate from the European Union," Health Minister Chris Fearne announced at the during a press conference.
“We will be the first country in Europe to take this step,” he added.
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Since June 1, tourists from the EU, the United States and a few other states were once again welcome in this territory on condition that they test negative for Covid-19 when boarding a plane to destination Malta, or if they were fully vaccinated.
But now "a PCR test will no longer suffice," said the minister, except for minors under 12 accompanied by their parents.
"We must take care of our inhabitants"
Asked whether the notice of a few days imposed on foreign travelers was "fair", he replied: "It is not fair to make the locals who have not been vaccinated take risks".
"We must first take care of our inhabitants".
The small Mediterranean island of 500,000 inhabitants is proud to be the most vaccinated country in the EU, with 79% of the adult population having received two doses of serum.
On June 27, she had not registered any new cases but on Friday health authorities identified 96, 90% of which were unvaccinated.
A large number of cases have been detected during language trips and English schools, which attract students from all over the world each year, will close as of July 14.
Unlike other European countries, the rise in the number of new cases of Covid-19 is not due to the progression of the highly contagious Delta variant: the head of public health in Malta, Charmaine Gauci, said this Friday that only 7 of the country's 252 active cases were infected with this variant.