Filenews 10 February 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
More or less, the EU, following the different decisions of the Member States in relation to the age restriction on the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with the result that all countries are once again facing the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is under pressure for a clearer position on this issue, since some of the governments have started talking behind the scenes about political tricks on the part of some partners, stressing the need for agreement in decision-making.
The whole debate, which arose after the decision of several Member States to put an age restriction on the administration of the preparation, announcing that only people under the age of 65 would be vaccinated with it, was also transferred yesterday to Cyprus and indeed, as reported by information from the "F", both the Presidential and the Ministry of Health are waiting for any new recommendations that emerge from the EMA in order to be re-positioned on the subject.
On the part of the Association of Cypriot Pensioners, there was a strong concern about what is being said and written with the HSY urgently requesting information from the Ministry of Health while the Federation of Patients Associations of Cyprus demanded the unhindered vaccination of the population without any age restriction and on the basis of the recommendations of the competent European institution. The OSAC even makes a recommendation, as citizens are informed of the vaccine with which they will be vaccinated, when arranging their appointment through the "Vaccination Portal", so that they have the right to make their own decision.
The EES, in turn, and the health ministry's advisers on coronavirus vaccines, defended their decisions, stressing that their recommendation to vaccinate the population regardless of age is based on the official data so far on the safety and efficacy of AstraZeneca vaccine, citing the official positions of the European Medicines Agency.
"Some countries have placed age restrictions over 70 years of age, others have over 65 years of age, others countries over 60 years of age and others over 55 years of age. There is no uniformity in this decision-making and this certainly leads us to the thought that the reason these countries have made their decision may not be purely scientific. With the same scientific data that all countries considered the vaccine to be effective in all age groups, they then come with the same data to make their decisions," said the scientific advisor of the Ministry of Health, Professor Christos Petrou, adding that "some countries may have made some different choices depending on the availability of the vaccines available to them and have changed their strategy and not a priority for them to vaccinate over 65 years of age'.
The EES, for its part, as the head of the Office of the Minister of Health, Anastasia Anthousis, told "the EU, for its part, had put an asterisk on its proposal, noting that if the scientific data change and if the European Medicines Agency comes back with new recommendations, then the matter will be re-studied".
From the moment, said Mrs Anthousis, "that we have the specific attitudes of THE EMA, and we know that the vaccine is safe we will certainly choose to give priority to those most at risk, even if the coverage that this vaccine will offer them will only be enough to protect them from some serious cognition and/or hospitalization in ICU or even from death".
Elderly people are struggling – they are asking for information
However, the anguish of the pensioners of Cyprus, who are directly concerned by the debate that has been going on for the last 24 hours, is evident through the letter sent by the EYSY to the Minister of Health, Konstantinos Ioannou.
In the letter, the EYSY states that "We have been informed that the Ministry of Health has decided that the AstraZeneca vaccine will be used for pandemic vaccinations in Cyprus without an age limit. We have also been informed that several Countries of the European Union, including Greece, have decided and are proposing the AstraZeneca vaccine only for citizens under the age of 65. Bearing in mind the above, please as the Pensioners' Organisation we have official information. Information needs to be done to the elderly and to all citizens in general."
For its part, however, the Federation of Patients Associations of Cyprus calls for the unhindered vaccination of all people at greater risk against coronavirus and invokes the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency. In its communication, the OSAC expressed its support for the decision 'to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine without age restrictions, as unanimously approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), on the basis of its efficacy and safety'. "It is particularly important that people over the age of 65 who belong to high-risk groups, be sick and need hospitalization but also risk their lives, be vaccinated quickly like the entire population in an effort to stop the pandemic," the OSAC said, stressing that "the right of citizens to know with a more vaccine is always guaranteed." The OSAC, "recommends that each citizen be informed at the same time about the vaccine available for the appointment he arranges, since we consider it a right both to know what vaccine he will receive and to refuse to accept it. So they will be able to consciously choose whether to be vaccinated with either the Pfizer vaccine or the AstraZeneca vaccine or any other available vaccine."
