Karagiannis: At the moment there is no discussion about changing measures

At the moment there is no discussion of changing measures, said to KYPE the member of the Advisory Scientific Committee, Professor of Microbiology / Molecular Virology of the Medical School of the University of Nicosia Dr. Petros Karagiannis, adding that "our epidemiological picture is stable."

Asked if they are considering changing the existing measures to deal with the pandemic, Mr. Karagiannis said that at the moment there is no discussion of changing measures, noting that "neither we were asked nor there was any preliminary discussion between members of the Advisory Committee."

"Right now, our epidemiological picture is stable. There is some concern after the children return to their schools. So far, however, things are going well, so we are able to wait to see how the epidemiological picture develops and see what can be done accordingly. "Beyond that, there is no reason at the moment to change some measures either to become stricter or to become lighter," he added.

Commenting on whether the existing measures will be extended, Mr. Karagiannis said that the decree is valid until the end of next week. "Therefore, beyond that, it is up to the Minister or the Minister of Health to decide," he added.

Answering a question about the autumn and winter season and if they are worried about the possibility of seeing a deterioration of our epidemiological picture, Mr. Karagiannis said that everything will depend on our epidemiological picture, how it will develop in the coming days.

"That is, if we continue this downward trend in the number of cases we have and even if we enter double-digit numbers for good, I believe that the problem will be reduced to a minimum. If, at the same time, our vaccination coverage goes even higher, I believe we will be shielded and may even shield those who for one reason or another have not been vaccinated or do not want to be vaccinated. But as long as there is a gap of unvaccinated people that the virus could move, then we will have outbreaks from time to time. "I do not know at the moment how serious these outbreaks will be, nor can I predict," he noted.

As he said, it is something that worries many scientists in Europe that in the winter we will see the pandemic of the unvaccinated.

"I hope that in Cyprus, because we are doing much better than several other European countries, we will avoid this," he added.

The 3rd installment was well decided

Regarding the 3rd dose of vaccine, Mr. Karagiannis said that it seems necessary and well decided, at least for the shielding of the elderly and vulnerable groups, in the first stage, and then in the general population from a certain age and above.

"Here in Cyprus it was decided for 65 years and over. In Britain very, very recently from 50 years and over and in Israel from 12 years and over. And this was based, after the recent announcements of the company Pfizer, and a study from Greece, which show that after the quarter antibody levels fall and fall in quantity, than they had after the second dose. Therefore, if this concerns older people, whose immune system is not so strong, then these people need a third dose to be adequately shielded. "And we have seen this in Cyprus, that lately we have had cases in nursing homes, due to this situation in vaccinated people", he added.

Regarding the issue of rapid test diagnostics and vaccinated people, Mr. Karagiannis said that this was not discussed.

Concluding, Mr. Karagiannis said that "we enter the autumn and later winter months, to continue with our vaccination coverage, but at the same time to be concerned that even if we are vaccinated we must apply self-protection measures, because in some cases "Vaccinated people can become infected."