Filenews 14 April 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
In the air vaccination programs internationally. The vaccine war is merciless. Decisions, announcements and information are rapidly going around the world and calling into question two of the four EU-licensed vaccines, at a time when millions of people across Europe are already reluctant to be vaccinated.
At national level yesterday, Cypriot citizens turned their backs on AstraZeneca's vaccine, while organised patients called on the competent authorities to take action that will really reassure the population. "We have so far failed to convince the citizens and especially the vulnerable groups of the population" was the cry of anguish of the president of the Federation of Patients Associations of Cyprus Marios Koulouma, which, however, drowned a few hours later when the European Union, by indirectly re-calling this preparation into question, suddenly called on the Member States to submit as a matter of urgency all data relating to thromboembolic events recorded in the context of their vaccination programmes in order to proceed with a new evaluation, this time by category and age group of citizens.
This EU decision should also not be regarded as irrelevant to the Portuguese Presidency of the Union's previous declaration of intent on age segregation in the administration of this vaccine and on the definition of 'a common position where on the basis of which the use of the Anglo-Swedish company's vaccine will be limited to persons over 60 years of age (according to a letter leaked to Bloomberg)'.
But the contradictory information and announcements continued yesterday. Before the EU could announce that the distribution of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine to the Member States begins today, (with the Cypriot Ministry of Health announcing the receipt of 2,500 doses), this preparation was even more called into question as following the announcement of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) last week, Whereas it intends to study its interconnection with recorded cases of thrombosis, the competent federal health authorities in the United States of America have announced their recommendation to cease its administration to the population and to conduct an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which has led the manufacturer itself to notify in the early afternoon that it will delay the delivery of quantities to the EU pending decisions by the Evaluation Agencies.
The war has continued, however, as European citizens' aversion to the AstraZeneca vaccine and what is foreshadowed, at least at this time for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, has put Pfizer in a dominant position, which has announced a 60% increase in the price of its own formulation in the EU.
In the shadow of the developments of the last few hours, the Advisory Scientific Committee in Cyprus has carried out an evaluation of the data before it, as according to information provided by "F", Cypriot scientists did not have at their disposal everything that has been studied at European Medicines Agency level and are waiting for information from the competent services of the Ministry of Health. During yesterday's teleconference, the members of the EES submitted their personal views while some of the scientists also made clear suggestions for an age restriction on the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine, citing, among other things, the feeling of uncertainty that has prevailed in the Cypriot population.
Suggestions have also been made with regard to other actions which, according to the members of the EES, must be promoted by the Ministry of Health in order to return citizens to vaccination and it is not excluded today that what has been recorded should be sent to the Minister of Health Konstantinos Ioannou, in the form of "views", as the final decisions do not fall within the competence of the Advisory Scientific Committee.
Of course, from the Government's point of view, there does not seem to be any intention to set an age restriction or to make any other changes to Cyprus' vaccination programme. However, there is a willingness to promote other actions aimed at convincing citizens of the safety of all available anti-crown vaccines.
At present, changes have only been made to the way in which vaccination of citizens is progressing, with an upgrade of the electronic Vaccination Portal and the launch of the programme for essential service workers.
Indeed, yesterday, the Ministry of Health in a statement attempted to respond to the protests of citizens over the age of 61 who had failed to secure an appointment for vaccination with the vaccine of their choice.
Citing, among other things, the technical problems presented at the Vaccination Portal, the health ministry said that "it takes into account the fact that older people already had several opportunities to arrange appointments. For example, a 70-year-old person was allowed 5 times to schedule appointments as a priority, with their age group and then with people 69+, 67+, 66+, 64+ and 61 years of age and older."
Therefore, the health ministry said, "citizens who have access to the Gate as a matter of priority in any case are encouraged to plan their vaccination with the available vaccines. Delay in vaccination coverage results in a delay in our return to normality."
The Vaccination Portal has been upgraded
Yesterday 20,000 doses were made available through the Vaccination Portal, but only 6,115 appointments were arranged, with 3,990 involving Pfizer vaccines and 2,125 AstraZeneca vaccines.
The Vaccination Portal has been upgraded and has simultaneous access to 30,000 - 35,000 users, Deputy Innovation Minister Kyriakos Kokkinos said in a statement, while noting that planning for closing appointments will continue with certain ages.
Therefore the planning of the Ministry of Health remains stable and until 8 tonight the Vaccination Portal will be in operation to arrange appointments by people 55 and 56 years old while from 8 a.m. on Friday the system will take citizens 53 and 54 years old.
