Filenews 23 July 2021
Most elderly patients with coronavirus hospitalized at Larnaca General Hospital are not vaccinated, said Dr. Adamos Hatzipanage, Medical Director of Larnaca General Hospital, adding that the only option we have against the virus is vaccination.
He added that "25 patients with coronavirus are being treated in the Covid-19 ward of the Hospital, four of them in the Increased Care Unit as they need closer monitoring. The average age of patients is 60 years, since there are patients of all ages from 30 to 80".
In response to a question, he said that "the vast majority of elderly patients hospitalized in the Covid-19 ward have not been vaccinated. What we are observing is that data with patients is constantly changing, minute by minute, since some of them may need more oxygen or others may need intubation."
Repeating and stressing constantly, he continued that "today we have no choice but to make the vaccine in order to protect ourselves and those around us. People who have not been vaccinated are hosting the virus, so it can spread it in the community, resulting in more of our fellow human beings getting sick, needing hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit and having more deaths."
In another question he replied that "there is a constant flow of new patients to Larnaca Hospital, there is tremendous pressure in the public hospital, since the Covid-19 ward is full. There are patients who are in the Department of First Aid where they undergo various tests in order to understand at what stage they are and whether there are complications from the virus, while at the first opportunity they are transferred to the ward to help them."
It is a real shame," he continued, "that we find that patients with coronavirus are constantly increasing in public hospitals. Everyone should bear in mind that for months there has been a vaccine, which could prevent the virus or at worst get sick, but not need hospitalization."
At the same time, he expressed the appreciation that "the time has finally come for everyone to take responsibility, both individual and social, so that if possible, we can all be vaccinated and take our lives back into our own hands".
In relation to the medical, nursing and other staff working feverishly, the Medical Director of Larnaca Hospital said that "without a doubt all the staff has reached their limits, because this is not a situation that lasts for a short time. We will almost two years since the onset of the pandemic and it is regrettable that the vaccine against coronavirus is available to the public, but it does not get the opportunity to be vaccinated for its own protection and for society at large."
I believe, he continued, "that it is a responsible act to vaccinate someone and this has been demonstrated by life itself, where we see people who have not been vaccinated getting sick all the time, with the result that admissions to public hospitals are also increasing. Everyone must realize that there are also collateral damage, which may not be noticed at the moment, i.e. people suffering from other diseases who need hospitalization, but because of the workload with the coronavirus, cannot be helped, resulting in some of them being lost."
He also said that "no vaccination programme against any disease has succeeded if it is not universal. Unless the entire population of a community is vaccinated, it is almost impossible to reduce crown virus infection," he concluded.
Cna
