Almost 30% of Cypriots have received the first dose of a covid vaccine, said Health Minister Constandinos Ioannou, who was pleased with the people’s response to the call.
This corresponds to more than 218 thousand people.
Following a visit at the State Fair vaccination centre in Nicosia, Ioannou stressed that Cyprus now has the capacity of vaccinating 14 thousand people on a daily basis.
‘The first dose offers adequate coverage after three weeks’, the minister said.
The country’s epidemiological conditions will be evaluated next week to establish whether any improvement has been achieved, so that the country can return to its pre-lockdown situation.
‘There is no way of telling how things will develop’, he added, saying that relevant decisions will be taken in accordance to prevailing conditions.
He expressed warm thanks to frontline health professionals, including those working at vaccination centres, but he particularly referred to citizens’ cooperation and their response to the vaccination campaign.
‘All ages have been responding to the same degree’, he stressed.
It’s a critical time for Cyprus in the pandemic effort, he added, and the only way of preventing the spread of covid was through vaccination.
‘Vaccinations save lives and prevent people from falling seriously ill’, he noted, pointing out that in age groups with adequate vaccinations, hospitalisations and new cases have significantly dropped.
This drop in cases is mostly in the over 70s, where eight out of ten people have been vaccinated. In the 60 to 69s, more than 55 percent have received the jab.
Two hundred doctors have responded to the health ministry call of administering vaccines and already received the first doses.
The health minister expressed the hope that the vaccination response rate will rise further in the coming weeks.
Asked whether a drop in cases is expected next week, Ioannou noted that any results from covid measures will show following the first week of lockdown.
