in-cyprus 15 December 2020 - by gavriella
During a news conference today, Health Minister Konstantinos Ioannou presented full details of the government’s rollout for the first batch of coronavirus vaccines in Cyprus.
As he said the first vaccines will arrive in Cyprus before the end of the year but no exact date was given. Cyprus has ordered vaccines from four different countries, as part of an EU-wide initiative.
Before giving details on the plan, he thanked all citizens for their responsibility in respecting the social distancing measures against COVID-19, something that, as he said, permitted the government to avoid a total lockdown to curb the outbreak.
He praised the efforts of European Commissioner for Health, Cypriot Stella Kyriakidou who made great efforts so that smaller countries, like Cyprus, would get the vaccines in time.
He noted that the vaccine will not mark the end of the effort, adding that we will continue to live, implementing the simple personal protection measures we have been using so far but with more relaxations in our every daily lives.
Deputy head of the state medical services Olga Kalakouta provided details on the vaccination program.
The first group that will receive the vaccines are:
- People and staff at old people’s home and institutions of chronic diseases, health professionals.
- People over 80 (priority to vulnerable groups)
- People over 75 (priority to vulnerable groups)
- People over 16 (priority to high-risk groups)
- Prime Healthcare Providers and other health professionals/staff
- The general population according to age.
The vaccination centres will operate between 08:00 and 18:00 and vaccinations will only take place by appointment on an online portal, with the possibility of choosing the Vaccination Centre they prefer.
(philenews)
