Cyprus a step away from the 100,000 jab mark

A total of 22,808 appointments will open up on Tuesday on the vaccination portal, who people aged 67 and over to be given priority.

The Health Ministry announced that on Sunday the Republic of Cyprus reached 99,275 vaccinations, of which 70,534 involved first-dose vaccinations and 28,741 have so far received both doses. Additionally, the Ministry said 1,277 people who fall under vulnerable groups have so far been administered their first dose.

Health authorities added that the speed with which people at increased risk of serious illness be vaccinated will begin to pick up in the coming days, with the aim being to get through 30,000 first-dose inoculations by the end of March.

According to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Cyprus has so far achieved a first-dose coverage of 9.2% of the population aged 18 and over, ranking third among EU member states. 

At the same time, according to the data published by the website OurWorldInData, Cyprus still ranks among the first EU member states in terms of the administration of at least one dose of the vaccine, with an average of 11.42 doses per 100 people (data until March 5). Moreover, Cyprus has to a very high degree achieved its main goal of ensuring that those aged over 75 years are vaccinated.

In addition, following the ECDC recommendations, Cyprus has achieved the European Union target of vaccinating at least 80% of health professionals by March.

Cyprus is moving ahead with vaccinations through weekly deliveries of the available licensed vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

This week, the European Medicines Agency is expected to evaluate the application submitted by Johnson & Johnson for the authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine, which is in the form of a single dose.

Meanwhile, according to the Health Ministry, a total of 273,314 antigen rapid tests were carried out on March 1-5, which means that 20% of the population over 20 years old was examined.