As a second Covid-19 vaccine came under controversy over deadly thrombotic side effects, organised patients in Cyprus call on authorities to take action to appease rising concern among the public. Especially those by society’s vulnerable population.
The call comes as Cypriots on Tuesday snubbed once again the controversial Astrazeneca vaccine on offer, flooding the open appointment portal with requests for Pfizer and Moderna jabs, Philenews reports.
“Authorities have so far failed to convince citizens – especially the vulnerable groups of society – that it is safe to get this vaccine…as well as that of Johnson & Johnson (which was scheduled to be delivered in Cyprus this month but it is now being reviewed since the US has suspended it),” said head of the Cyprus Federation of Patients’ Associations Marios Kouloumas.
To make thing even worse, EU health authorities have raised a fresh indirect questioning of Astrazeneca after a call on member states to urgently submit all data related to thrombotic cases recorded during vaccination rollout programmes.
EU heath authorities will now proceed with a new evaluation of the jab – this time by category and age group of citizens.
This latest move is linked with an earlier statement on Tuesday by the bloc’s Portuguese Presidency on its intention to announce that certain age groups should not be getting this jab.
As for Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, the drug maker suspended shots in Europe after U.S. officials urged pausing vaccinations to review rare cases of deadly brain clots, similar to those seen with Astrazeneca’s vaccine.
