Search

INTRODUCTION: Vaccine hesitancy is a chronic public health threat. This study was carried out to ascertain Maltese healthcare workers’ hesitancy to COVID-19 vaccination and correlate this with influenza vaccine uptake., METHODS: A short, anonymous questionnaire was sent out to all of Malta’s government sector healthcare workers via the service’s standard email services (11-19/09/2020). A total of 9,681 questionnaires were posted electronically, with 10.4% response., RESULTS: The proportion of Maltese healthcare workers who “will take” the influenza vaccine increased significantly. Doctors had the highest baseline uptake and highest likely influenza vaccine uptake next winter. The likely/undecided/unlikely to take a COVID-19 vaccine were 52/22/26% respectively. Males were likelier to take the vaccine. Doctors had the highest projected likelihood to take vaccines. Likelihood of taking COVID-19 vaccine was directly related to the likelihood of influenza vaccination. Concerns raised were related to insufficient knowledge about such a novel vaccine, especially unknown long term side effects., DISCUSSION: The anticipated increased uptake of influenza vaccine is probably due to increased awareness of respiratory viral illness. Doctors may have higher vaccine uptakes due to greater awareness and knowledge of vaccine safety. The proportions of who are likely/undecided/unlikely (half, quarter, quarter respectively) to take a COVID-19 are similar to rates reported in other countries. The higher male inclination to take the vaccine may be due the innate male propensity for perceived risk taking. Shared COVID-19 with influenza vaccine hesitancy implies an innate degree of vaccine reluctance/hesitancy and not merely reluctance based on novel vaccine knowledge gap., peer-reviewed

On 31st December 2019, Chinese Health Officials reported a cluster of 41 patients with a novel pneumonia (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2020). Six days later, the country’s scientists had already determined its cause to be a new type of coronavirus which the World Health Organisation officially named SARS‑CoV‑2 and the disease as “COVID‑19". On March 7th, 2020, Malta reported the first case of COVID‑19 in an Italian girl returning to Malta. Three days later, the government announced a travel suspension with Italy and quarantine for all returning travellers (Times of Malta, 2020). As of 7th November 2021, COVID‑19 had killed more than 5 million people around the world, with more than 248 million confirmed cases across 213 different countries (WHO, 2021). An eventful two years brought many changes in almost every aspect of our lives, from the ways we interact, work, and socialise. COVID‑19 has 'spread like wildfire' and presented unprecedented challenges to every single industry around the world especially healthcare (Kumar et al., 2020)., peer-reviewed

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 was a global shock, causing challenges to many countries’ healthcare services. This paper provides a summary of Malta’s healthcare system journey during the Covid-19 pandemic with its initial preparedness for COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of COVID-19 on the service during the first 12 months of the pandemic., METHODS: A literature search was conducted using Google and reviewing Maltese online newspapers. A comprehensive summary of internal operations conducted at Mater Dei Hospital, the country’s only acute general hospital, was provided by the Chief Operating Officer., RESULTS: Several infrastructural changes including the increase in bed capacity and ITU areas were instituted in preparation for the pandemic. The health system showed resilience during the first wave. However, the situation was more precarious during the second wave. The end of December 2020 saw the start of the Covid-19 vaccination rollout, with over 30 health system hubs offering this service across the islands. Simultaneously health professional’s burnout is on the rise as resources and workforce are overstretched., CONCLUSION: The collaborative effort between the guidance provided by the Public Health Authorities and the hospital’s multi-disciplinary team have been pinnacle during the pandemic. However, the future of the healthcare system is heavily dependent on the population’s behaviour, timely measures, the vaccination rollout and the type of immunity acquired through vaccination or infection., peer-reviewed

Introduction The world is currently in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led to an increase in internet usage including social media. This study was carried out in order to discover how the pandemic affected the Maltese population who use social media networks daily. Methods A dataset comprising more than 50,000 comments and in excess of 150,000 interactions were extracted from Facebook over four months. The method was quantitative and qualitative. Pearson correlation was used to analyse trends. Results Online interaction increased 200% between February–April 2020, with a significant positive correlation. There was also a significant correlation between online interaction and engagement and the Covid-19 situation in Malta (p ≪ 0.0001). Online posts portraying a sense of care, affection, and unity increased by more than 300% over the same period, and this also significantly correlated with the number of COVID-19 cases in Malta (p ≪ 0.0001). An increase in the number of COVID-19 cases had an emotional impact mainly on anxiety and agitation. Discussion The pandemic has unleashed a veritable ‘infodemic’ (an over-abundance of information – some accurate and some not). Social media engagement may have been resorted to not only to seek information but also to interact with friends and family who were not physically accessible due to social distancing measures. Yet another reason could have been to seek comfort and reassurance by interacting with those closest to us. Social media is not only an everyday tool but also a haven of last resort when physical connection is not possible., Highlights • COVID-19 has led to an increased internet usage including social media. • Malta's Facebook online interaction increased 200% in February–April 2020. • Significant correlations were noted with the COVID prevalence. • The emotional impact was mainly anxiety and agitation.