3 In addition to the 660 vaccinations with the third dose have been carried out so far in the nursing homes, while according to the planning of the Ministry of Health, the vaccinations with the third dose to the health professionals in the hospitals will follow.
It is noted that the competent Ministry is expected to start notifying the immunosuppressed by phone.
The program is proceeding normally
In her statements to KYPE, the Press Officer of the Ministry of Health, Margarita Kyriakou, said that the program prepared by the competent team of the Ministry of Health "is proceeding normally", to note that since Friday, September 3, when the program started, they have boosts were provided to 667 people from all provinces.
According to Ms. Kyriakou, specifically last Friday, 149 vaccinations were performed with a third dose, last Monday 104, Tuesday 126, while yesterday Wednesday 288.
He noted that the program that is being prepared will proceed with the health professionals in the hospitals and specifically with those who have been vaccinated in January and February of 2021.
In addition, he said, telephone alerts for immunocompromised individuals, who were also vaccinated last January and February, would be launched.
Increase of mobile units
According to Ms. Kyriakou, mobile units are located daily in all the provinces of Cyprus, assisting in the project of administering the third dose of vaccine, while she added that these will be gradually increased if necessary.
It is recalled that the Council of Ministers decided last week to start giving a third dose of vaccine to people over 65, to nursing home residents, to immunocompromised people regardless of age, as well as to health professionals, given that a period of more than six months has passed. of their vaccination regimen.
Vaccinations are performed with Pfizer vaccines.
It is recalled that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has announced that it has started evaluating the data on the possibility of a third, booster dose for all people aged 16 and over of the Pfizer / BioNTech (Comirnaty) vaccine against COVID-19, but also for the possibility of providing an additional dose of mRNA vaccine (ie Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna) to people with weakened immune systems.
According to an announcement, the results of the evaluation will be announced by Coreper in the coming weeks, unless additional information is needed.
Coreper evaluates the company's application for the use of an additional installment six months after the 2nd installment. Doses for people who have completed their vaccination regimen are defined as boosters as the goal of a third dose will be to restore protection after it has weakened.
In the meantime, the EMA is also evaluating data on a possible 3rd dose of mRNA vaccine (Comirnaty or SpikeVax) in severely immunocompromised individuals (individuals with a weakened immune system). People with severely weakened immune systems who do not achieve adequate levels of protection from their initial vaccination may need a "boost" dose as part of their vaccination regimen.
However, Coreper, as well as the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), remind that they do not consider that there is an urgent need for vaccine boosts in the general population, however, they add, evaluate the application that has been submitted.