The front page hosted the professor of molecular virology of the University of Cyprus and member of the epidemiological team of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Leontios Kostrikis.
He spoke about the percentage of the society that should be vaccinated in order for the herd to be immune in Cyprus, but also about the possibilities of differentiating the effectiveness of the vaccines.
He initially said that in the last week there seems to be a stabilization of infections without increasing trends, but in high numbers. He added that there are high numbers as the number of exams is higher.
He then spoke about the "invasion" of the virus in nursing homes and schools, emphasizing that Cyprus did not face such a problem in the first wave of the pandemic. "This time the virus has invaded many nursing homes housing people who are prone to the coronavirus."
He pointed out that the Minister of Health has appointed a special committee which will visit all the nursing homes and will examine whether the health protocols are observed.
He stated that he does not know if it will become a Reference Hospital which will be hosted only by the elderly, adding that various thoughts are being made for differentiation.
He also talked about vaccines. "There is Pfizer which is the first company to apply for the vaccine and Moderna and AstraZeneca will follow." He noted that a special scientific team has been set up for vaccinations and "I believe that the equipment needed has been ordered, as the Pfizer vaccine is stored in very low grades". He added that special refrigerators are needed as they must be stored at -70C and equipment for transporting the vaccine.
"If all goes well then maybe in December we will have the first installments in Cyprus and there will be a list of the teams that need to be vaccinated first."
He explained that companies are announcing the effectiveness of their vaccine and this shows the relationship that vaccine protection has in clinical phase 3 from the group that received the vaccine to the group that received the placebo vaccine.
He added that according to studies, the effectiveness index can be differentiated when the vaccine is given to society. "It's different when 50.000 people are vaccinated than when the whole society is vaccinated."
He clarified that herd immunity is related to the contagion of the virus. "In order to achieve herd immunity in Cyprus, 65% -70% should be vaccinated", he concluded.
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Source: Sigmalive