Filenews 7 September 2021 - by Marilena Panagi
On hold for more than a month are hundreds of citizens, who have applied to be given a free coronavirus test after they, as their doctors claim, are unable to be vaccinated due to serious health problems they face.
Hundreds of requests have been sent to the Ministry of Health, according to information provided by "F", and have been forwarded to the competent committee of the Pancyprian Medical Association for evaluation and approval or rejection.
Specifically, in the last one and more months, about 400 applications have been sent which have been referred by the Ministry of Health to the PIS, but to date only 200 have been examined and only 18 people have been approved, which demonstrates, among other things, the ease with which some doctors issue their patients with certificates, on the basis of which they can remain unvaccinated for various reasons invoked, however, during the examination of the applications by the scientific team of the Medical Association, it is found that the reasons for requesting an exemption from vaccination with the subsequent granting of the right to free examination through the programs of the Ministry of Health to ensure SafePass, are not valid.
The problem was explained to "F" by the president of the Federation of Cyprus Patients' Associations, Marios Kouloumas, "it is twofold". On the one hand, he said, "we have our patients, who, indeed due to serious health problems, are not suitable to be vaccinated and on the other hand they have dozens of others who, under various pretexts, obtain certificates from their doctors, then make a request to the Ministry of Health and from there the scientific committee of the PIS, which has undertaken the evaluation of all the requests, is burdened". The "patient observatory" of OSAK, Mr. Kouloumas said, "has received many relevant complaints from chronic patients and severely ill people and we have contacted the relevant departments of the Ministry of Health asking for explanations.
What we have been told is of great concern as we see that applications have been stacked for quite a long time and citizens who really need a vaccination waiver and exemption from paying a fee for coronavirus tests, remain stranded and continue to pay out of their own pockets, risking in the queues of dozens of people every 72 hours."
