Malta, which leads the European Union in coronavirus vaccinations, will on Monday reach its target of giving 70 percent of adults at least one dose, the health minister announced.
The Mediterranean island, which has a population of around 500,000, declared it had reached "herd immunity" — although the EU's definition for such a milestone is tougher.
After around 475,000 doses, around 42 percent of the population is fully vaccinated with both doses of either the Pfizer, Moderna, or AstraZeneca vaccine, or with a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, officials said.
"Today we have reached herd immunity. The vaccine is our weapon against the virus," Health Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne told reporters.
He added: "It means that the virus' transmission — even if the virus is still among us — has decreased significantly."
The achievement comes well ahead of schedule — the government had initially targeted September, before moving the date to the end of June.
The European Commission aims to get 70 percent of the EU population fully vaccinated by late July.
Malta, which has recorded more than 400 deaths from coronavirus, is slowly emerging from months of restrictions, with tourism set to restart on June 1.
Fearne revealed plans for a domestic "vaccine certificate" which could be used to re-open cultural and social events, most of which are currently banned.
He also announced that the requirement to wear a mask outdoors at all times would start to be relaxed on July 1.
Fully vaccinated people will be allowed to stay outdoors without a mask as long as they are alone or accompanied by a maximum of one more fully vaccinated person.
Case numbers in Malta have been extremely low in recent weeks: the current seven-day moving average of new cases stands at just three per day, with no deaths in the past three weeks.
