Filenews 3 September 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
Yesterday's decision of the Council of Ministers to administer a third dose of vaccine to specific groups of the population is being implemented as of today. They will begin today in a nursing home in Nicosia and in the coming days it will be extended to all nursing homes and closed facilities that accommodate elderly people in all districts. Subsequently, based on a procedure to be announced by the Ministry of Health, a program of supportive vaccination of the elderly and people belonging to the groups at high risk for serious disease will be implemented throughout September, in case of infection by the coronavirus.
The hesitancy that prevailed on Wednesday at the Presidential Palace, began to change from the evening of the same day, when the first informal announcement was issued by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) and any concerns disappeared yesterday morning when a recommendation for the administration of a third dose of vaccines to specific groups of the population was also made by the competent European Medicines Agency (EMA).
In fact, the fact that in the positions of the two competent bodies of the EU, there is a clear reference and recommendation for the supportive vaccination of population groups for which scientists and the Ministry of Health in Cyprus had been placed in the previous period, solved for good the hands of the Minister and as a result, shortly after noon yesterday, the Minister of Health Michalis Hadjipantelas proceeded with the relevant announcements, finalising what had become known in the last few days. In other words, he announced:
► Initiation of a third dose of vaccine to people over 65 years of age.
► Residents of nursing homes.
► In immunosuppressed people regardless of age.
► Healthcare professionals.
The third dose will be given to people who have completed or are six months from the date of receipt of the second dose during their initial vaccination, while details of how the new vaccination programme will be carried out will be announced in the coming days by the Ministry of Health.
Presenting his proposal to the Council of Ministers, the Minister of Health invoked, as reported by information provided by "F", the data recorded in Cyprus in recent weeks and specifically, the fact that about 20% of hospitalized coronavirus patients are vaccinated people, the fact that the majority of patients with a history of vaccination who are hospitalized are aged 65 years and over, but also that the majority of people who died in recent times belonged to the age group over 65 years old.
Basing his proposal on the recommendations of scientists, Michalis Hadjipantelas stressed the increase recorded daily in the number of new coronavirus cases in nursing homes, as well as the risk faced by immunocompromised individuals who, according to studies, do not have a satisfactory response after their initial vaccination.
Regarding the practice of "mix&match" that is expected to be followed, i.e. the administration of mRNA technology vaccines to all regardless of whether they had received vaccines of another technology during the initial vaccination, the Minister of Health informed the Council of Ministers that according to the studies that have been carried out so far both at European and international level, the use of a vaccine of a different technology from the initial vaccination is proving to be an effective and safe practice, stressing that this process is currently being followed in general in other countries that have already begun to implement relevant programs.
After the approval of the relevant proposal by the Council of Ministers, the competent officials of the Ministry of Health were given the green light to proceed with the implementation of the program that has been prepared for days, pending the decision.
In the coming days, it is expected to announce the groups of patients (immunosuppressed, transplanted and other people suffering from serious chronic diseases) who will receive a booster dose of the vaccine, as well as the way in which the appointments for the revaccination will be arranged. The compilation of the list of vulnerable groups that will participate in the new program will be done in collaboration with the Pancyprian Medical Association.
According to information provided by "F", the Ministry of Health has been contacting the Deputy Ministry of Innovation for several days, requesting the relevant facilities through the electronic vaccination system and therefore, if no technical problem arises, the new vaccination program will proceed normally in the coming weeks.
The procedure for nursing homes does not provide for the settlement of an appointment, since the vaccination will be done through the mobile units and therefore the elderly will be vaccinated without the need for any other action on their part.
The European Union is studying the data on the general population
With the EMA's announcement yesterday, in essence, all the governments of the EU Member States were given the green light to take the relevant decisions or to implement the decisions they have already taken, while this time, and despite the fact that for the time being there is no recommendation for re-vaccination in the general population, there is for the first time, officially speaking, the possibility of administering booster doses of the coronavirus vaccine to all categories and age groups of citizens.
"It is important to distinguish between booster doses in people with normal immune systems and additional doses in people with weakened immune systems, the announcement with the ECDC and the EMA said, adding: "Some studies report that an additional dose of vaccine may improve the immune response in immunosuppressed individuals, such as organ transplant recipients, of which the initial response to vaccination was low. In such cases the option of administering an additional dose should already be considered. In addition, the provision of an additional dose, as a preventive measure, to elderly patients, especially people living in closed facilities, could also be considered."
The EMA, "is currently evaluating data on additional doses and will also consider whether updating the product information is appropriate. It will also evaluate data on booster doses." However, he adds, "while the EMA evaluates all relevant data, Member States can plan to administer boosters and additional doses", since as it stresses: "the national technical advisory groups are responsible for guiding vaccination campaigns in each EU Member State", noting that "these groups are the most appropriate as they know and take into account domestic conditions, including the spread of the virus (especially any variants of concern, the availability of vaccines and the specificities of national health systems)'.
Concluding their announcement, the two competent bodies of the EU state that "they will continue to collect and evaluate the data as they become available for the supporting and additional doses. Close monitoring of data on the effectiveness of vaccines and post-vaccination infections should continue, especially among vulnerable groups at risk of severe COVID-19 disease and those living in closed facilities. In the meantime, Member States should prepare for possible adjustments to their vaccination programmes in the event that there is a significant reduction in the effectiveness of vaccines in one or more groups of the population."
The statement of the competent European Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, who said in her statements yesterday morning that "the issue of the third dose has been discussed for two months and yesterday there was the first opinion, and I say the first because we are dealing with a fluid situation, where the ECDC states that the granting of additional doses is proposed for the protection of the most vulnerable". "This is a principle so that states can immediately integrate into their programmes these categories of citizens who may have to get the third strengthening dose immediately," he added and went on to say that "Member States have the right to proceed with their own programmes according to their own epidemiological picture and this is now the minimum that will start, and the Member States will decide how to start the same in relation to other groups of their population. At the moment, the scientific data are quite clear that they are directly proposing the protection of the vulnerable, the immunocompromised and the vulnerable elderly."
Continuing her statements, the European Commissioner said that she has already signed agreements with Pfizer and Moderna both on larger quantities of vaccines for member states and on doses covering the new mutations of the coronavirus. He recalled that the EMA in December is expected to approve the administration of another vaccine and said that the committee is also in consultation with the company AstraZeneca.
