Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1305625
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 NOVEMBER 2020 10 KURT SANSONE PRIVATE cars remain by far the preferred mode of trans- port for people of all ages irre- spective of which region they live in, a MaltaToday survey found. The results show that 70.8% of all respondents had last made use of their car, a day earlier, while 70.5% had last made use of a bus more than a year before. Taxi use was similarly less popular with 69.7% saying they last used it more than a year ago. The survey also showed that 81.4% indicated a high probability of using their private car over the next month, while 86.2% indicat- ed a low prob- ability of using public trans- port. Taxi use was most pop- u l a r among those aged between 18 and 35 with 4.9% indicated a high probability they would use a taxi in the coming month. The survey showed that 81.6% of those aged between 18 and 35, had last used their car 24 hours earlier. A mere 0.7% said they last used their car more than a year before. Similarly, 84.2% of those aged between 36 and 50 had last used their vehicle the day be-fore, while 2.4% had last used their car more than a year before. Among those aged between 51 and 65, 68.4% said they last used their car the day before and 16.1% had travelled by their private vehicle in that week. Private car use is less pro- nounced among the elderly with 40.6% having used their car 24 hours earlier and 15.8% in the survey week. The survey was held be- tween 31 August and 4 Sep- tember with 655 respondents opting to participate. Bus use and car sharing Public transport use is less frequent with only 3.6% say- ing they had used a bus the previous day and 3.9% during the week. Recent bus use is highest among those aged between 18 and 35 with the survey showing that 5.6% made use of public transport in the pre- vious 24 hours. Car sharing received mixed reviews with 19% saying they last shared a car with some- one else the day before, and 29.2% saying they did so dur- ing the current week. However, 27.6% said they last shared a car with some- one else more than 12 months ago. The probability of sharing a car over the next month was a three-way split – 31.6% of respondents in- dicated a high p r o b a b i l i t y , 30.4% a medium probability and 38.1% a low prob- ability. The survey did coincide with a period when COVID-19 in- fections started to rise again, possibly putting people off the use of buses and other shared means of transport. However, the strong num- bers suggest that car use re- mains the prevalent regular choice for a vast majority of people. Fuel spend The current weekly expend- iture on car fuel is €20 for a relative majority of people. The survey found that 32.4% reported spending €20 per week on fuel, which would equate to around €87 per month or just over €1,000 in a year. Another 10.9% spent €15 per week and 17.8% forked out €10 per week on fuel for their car. Another 10.5% spent an av- erage of €30 per week. The prevalence of people paying €30 per week on fuel was higher in the Northern and Western regions, where 16.4% and 17.7% of people respectively indicated this amount. Private car still king of the road NEWS LAURA CALLEJA WE know that experts are on the verge of knowing whether there can be a vaccine that works against the coronavirus. Scien- tists had to start from scratch earlier this year, but now the re- sults of major trails are expected in the coming weeks or months. At this point for life to get back to normal, a COVID-19 vaccine must be delivered success-fully, even though there is no evidence yet that people could be re-in- fected by the virus. Data from trials have shown that vaccines can teach the body to make antibodies, which in turn can prevent COVID-19 from entering the body's cells and T-cells. However, it remains unan- swered whether the vaccine is still enough to protect people from COVID-19. Currently, there are 11 vaccines which have reached the final stage of testing. This stage is critical because if the vaccine were to fail, it would be at this stage. Some studies have already recruited volun- teers and are currently awaiting results. The leading companies car- rying out the research are the University of Oxford and As- tra-Zeneca (UK), Pfizer and Bi- oNTech (Germany), Moderna and Novavax (United States), CanSino with the Beijing Insti- tute of Biotechnology, Beijing Institute of Biological Products, Sinopharm, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and Sino- pharm (China), Gamaleya Re- search Institute in Russia, and Sinovac and Instituto Butantan in Brazil. The reality is that until these companies release the results of their clinical trials, which is ex- pected to be by the end of 2020, it is realistically impossible to give a time frame. Plans could change exponentially if the ex- perimental vaccines were un- suitable or ineffective. Most ex- perts think the vaccine won't be widely available until the middle of 2021. The Maltese health authorities have said that public should ex- pect Malta to receive the COV- ID-19 in January 2021, with Health Minister Chris Fearne saying that within the follow- ing months the vaccine will be released to the entire popula- tion. "At the beginning, we were worried that once this impor- tant vaccine will be provided to the bigger EU countries and the smaller EU countries, such as Malta will be one of the last to be given the vaccine. Instead, we have worked hard to ensure that Malta will be one of the first countries to receive the vaccine." Malta has ordered enough dos- es of the COVID-19 vaccines to vaccinate the entire population within six months. Malta has so far been assured of a stock of vaccines from Astra-Zeneca, Sa- nofi and Johnson & Johnson. While the only way to safely lift restrictions without risking the lives of many is to produce a vaccine, it is important to note that we still don't have a vaccine for the four coronaviruses that already exist which cause com- mon cold symptoms. And last week a volunteer in AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vac- cine trial – notably one of the vaccines which Malta has ac- quired the stock of – died in Brazil. CNN Brazil reported that the volunteer was a 28-year-old man who lived in Rio de Janeiro and died from COVID-19 com- plications. Despite a statement by Astra- Zeneca that the trial would con- tinue, warnings have been raised from the medical community since the death. Remember: a vaccine usually takes decades to develop, yet the medical com- munity is attempting to develop this vaccine in a short amount of time – this would be historical. Right now, trials need to show the vaccine is safe. Clinical trials will also need to show vaccines either stop people getting sick or at the very least reduce deaths. The vaccine will also need to be approved by regulators before it can be taken by the general pub- lic. Lastly, governments around the world need to logistically de- cide whether the vaccine will be mandatory or optional. How close are we to a COVID-19 vaccine? Until these companies release the results of their clinical trials, expected by the end of 2020, it is realistically impossible to give a time frame