Data suggest things less bad with vaccinations

Daily detection of COVID infections continued to drop in the Republic of Cyprus but cases still remained in the upper hundreds, with experts suggesting a very bad epidemiological situation could have been a lot worse had it not been for vaccinations on the island.

The health ministry on Tuesday announced 6 deaths and 791 new COVID-19 cases, while 292 infected patients were said to be receiving treatment in hospitals. The Cyprus News Agency broke down the numbers for hospitalized patients saying 80 were in serious condition, 38 of whom were in the Intensive Care Unit with only 4 of them not intubated, while 42 were receiving augmented care.

State officials have not said how many serious cases in hospitals were vaccinated but cited recent statements suggesting the vast majority of hospitalized patients were not vaccinated.

But health experts have taken things a step further saying the level of vaccinations in Cyprus has averted in practical terms a far more serious crisis in recent weeks, after daily cases had passed the 1000 mark, a threshold described by local experts as an important indicator in testing the country’s healthcare capabilities.

According to Kathimerini Cyprus, when daily cases surpassed the thousand mark, hospitalizations also rose but not proportionally as they did in the early stages of mass vaccination.

Kathimerini’s Apostolos Tomaras pointed out that medics on the front lines had been painting a bleak picture as hospitalizations prompted government officials to search for ways to increase capacity, both in available beds and medical staff.

But Tomaras also pointed out that vaccinations had given medics and a system under immense pressure a chance to take a breath this time around.

“A basic comparison of epidemiological data between April and July reveal the wall of immunity created by the vaccines,” Tomaras said.

In a Tuesday piece titled “Vaccination rates a shield for hospitalizations,” Tomaras said hospitalizations of infected patients had reached 301 when a third lockdown had been announced on April 25, with 773 daily cases detected on that Sunday alone.

But while on April 26 cases had dropped to 611 with hospitalizations remaining at 300, hospitalizations on 26 July -when vaccination rates were high- infected patients in hospitals were down to 270 with daily cases at 851.

Tomaras also pointed to positive news on herd immunity based on official figures on citizens who have either initiated or completed their vaccination.

“Up until last Monday those aged above 18 who had been vaccinated with the first dose came to 72.2%, while the rate of 63.5% of adults who are doubly vaccinated was satisfactory,” Tomaras wrote.

But about 200,000 persons who are eligible for the vaccine remain unvaccinated in Cyprus according to Kathimerini, which is not satisfactory according to experts who are calling for 90% coverage amid the surge of the Delta variant.

Tomaras said experts argued that vaccination rates thus far “in practice, have averted the worst.”

Health experts in Cyprus say the current crisis linked to the Delta variant came sooner than expected, with the mutated bug infecting many younger people who end up falling ill.