Gibraltar lockdown ends after vaccination drive

Following weeks under lockdown, there's an end-of-hibernation feeling in Gibraltar. The narrow peninsula stretching between Spain and the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea is emerging from a devastating virus surge, in part, thanks to a successful vaccination campaign. COVID-19 has killed 93 people, nearly all of them in January and February this year, and infected over 4,000 of its 33,000 residents since outbreaks began in 2020.

The recent easing of restrictions, in what Gibraltar authorities have dubbed "Operation Freedom," owes much to the steady delivery of jabs from the UK, its well-supplied sovereign power. Initial plans were to finish by mid-April, but Gibraltar is currently on track to complete by the end of March the vaccination of both its residents over age 16 and its vast imported workforce. That's well over 40,000 people, with official statistics showing that only 3.5% have so far rejected the vaccine.

"I've been on the Rock now for a couple of months, without having stepped foot on Spain. That's a big part of our lives, going across the border, visiting new cities each weekend. That's what I'm looking forward to most," said Christian Segovia, a 24-year-old engineer who works at a local shipping company and received his first shot of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine on March 4.

Most Gibraltarians are eager to travel. With an area of 6.7 square kilometers, a territory only a little bigger than The Vatican and Monaco, most of it dominated by the imposing presence of its famous Rock - Gibraltar can sometimes feel claustrophobic. But Gibraltar's struggle to regain normality is only just starting. It still faces the many challenges of re-opening in a globalized world with unequal access to vaccines.

"I have had my second dose, lots of people have," said 56-year-old Gibraltarian Yvette Pau. "But going over to Spain and just thinking that they are not vaccinated, the majority of them, for me it is a bit of a concern."

The uncertainty of mutations that could resist existing vaccines and the unknown of how long jab immunity will last have Gibraltar's minister of health working on contingency plans, including topping up with a booster. "Being vaccinated is absolutely no carte blanche to then behave without any restrictions. But then, we also have to go back to being a little bit more human, being able to breathe fresh air," said Health Minister Samantha Sacramento in an office atop the local hospital, with large windows over the Gibraltar Bay.

In Gibraltar's main street, background chatter from the cafés had returned. Among those sitting at the socially distanced tables in a group of three was Patricia Linale. She and the other women were delighted to be able to meet again after two months of restrictions. "Oh gosh how I missed this," said 64-year-old Linale, who lives by herself and said she had started speaking to her refrigerator she was so lonely. "I would get up and say (to the fridge) "My Dear, I'm sorry but I have to open you again."

Now she and her friends are mostly vaccinated and back to their daily morning routine at the local café. But finding that balance between normality and precaution can be tricky for a territory linked to both Spain and the UK by two separate but equally vital umbilical cords. As a British territory, Gibraltar has received five vaccine consignments from London, mostly with the Pfizer jab.

A handful of AstraZeneca shots have also been reserved for those possibly vulnerable to anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that has been rare to date. Expanding the limited flights with the UK, which is also rolling out vaccination at high speed, could, in theory, be done by eliminating tests and mandatory quarantining on entry. But the contagious variant of the virus in Britain has been a source of concern.

In Spain, restrictions have tamed an end-of-the-year contagion surge that strained public hospitals. But, like much of Europe, the country suffers from the bottleneck of vaccine production and is struggling to accelerate its rollout to meet the goal of immunizing 33 million of its residents, or 70% of the population.

With over 15,000 people fully vaccinated - the equivalent to nearly half of its resident population — and an additional 11,000 awaiting their second dose as of Monday, Gibraltar's health authorities are focusing now on drawing in people in their 20s for their first shots, the last of its age-based vaccination cohorts.

Non-Gibraltarians working in health, caretaking or other frontline jobs are already vaccinated, but authorities are now also calling in all the remaining transfrontier workers. Vanesa Olivero commutes every day, crossing on foot the isthmus-turned-landing-strip that separates Gibraltar and Spain's La Línea de la Concepción.

Some 15,000 workers were making the same trip before the pandemic, although these days the numbers are lower because tourism remains closed and overall economic activity has slowed down. The 40-year-old, who sells tobacco and spirits in one of Gibraltar's many duty-free shops, says she can't wait to get her shots because facing customers puts her at risk. She suffers from asthma, has two daughters and older relatives to take care of. "Just tell me where and when and I'll present both of my arms," joked Olivero.