The proposal, which gives the green light for the administration of a third dose of the vaccine, will be presented to the Council of Ministers next Thursday.
According to KYPE, the proposal was discussed and prepared in a wide-ranging meeting, held today at the Ministry of Health, under Michalis Hadjipandelas, which was attended by officials of the Ministry of Health, as well as members of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SCC).
According to the same information, the Government and the majority of the members of the SCC decided to proceed immediately in Cyprus with the administration of a third dose of the vaccine to certain groups of the population, after the recent increase of hospitalizations for the elderly with covid in OKYPY hospitals, which shows how the rate of immunity has decreased in some groups of the population.
It is noted that a decision leading this proposal to the Council of Ministers was taken pending the recommendations of the European Medicines Agency (Coreper) for the third tranche. In a statement issued by the Commission, Member States warned that they might face increased legal risks as the European Medicines Agency had not yet recommended a boost.
Although Cyprus has so far faithfully followed the guidelines of Coreper in the matter of vaccines, nevertheless the proposal has been prepared and will be brought before the Minister, in order to have a discussion and possibly decisions.
An opinion will be sought from the Attorney General
Also, the information of KYPE states that today an opinion will be requested from the Legal Service, in order to ensure that there will be no legal obstacle.
Who does the third dose start with?
In the meantime, it is noted that if the Ministry finally decides to start the granting of the third installment, then the actions of the competent services will be immediate, since the plan of their actions has already been prepared.
A source from the Ministry of Health told KYPE that priority in the administration of the third dose will be given to the elderly, those who belong to the vulnerable groups and the immunosuppressed.
The Medical Services of the Ministry of Health are ready to start the vaccinations from the nursing homes, while the vaccination with the third dose in the nursing homes will be done, as last January, with mobile units, staffed by trained and experienced health professionals.
In addition, the Ministry's plan is ready for the immunosuppressed patients, who are a priority, as well as for the rest of the elderly, which will be announced later in case the Council of Ministers decides how to proceed with the administration of the third installment.
For those aged 65 and over
The information also states that during today's wide-ranging meeting at the Ministry of Health, he clarified the age limit that will be set for the administration of the repeated dose. The limit set is for people over 65 years old.
On the subject of "mix and match", ie the completion of the vaccination regimen with different preparations, the experts presented clinical studies that were carried out and for which they said that there were very good results.
The Ministry seems to be favoring the vaccination scenario with different formulations to those who have been vaccinated with AstraZeneca and J&J. These individuals will be given mRNA vaccines.
Finally, it is noted that the vaccines that will be used for the third dose will be only mRNA technology, ie vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna.