Vaccination programme gets a 76,000-dose boost
THE TRNC received a massive boost to its Covid-19 vaccination programme this week with the delivery of 76,000 doses.
The figure includes 21,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine which, unlike other Covid19 vaccines, only requires one shot for a person to be fully vaccinated.
The J&J jabs were sent by the EU via South Cyprus and handed over to TRNC health officials at the Metehan border crossing yesterday. It is the first time the TRNC has received the J&J vaccine. The EU has also provided a further 5,000 doses of AstraZeneca.
On Tuesday Turkey sent 50,000 doses of the Sinovac-made vaccine by air ambulance, its biggest single delivery to date.
‘SINGLE DOSE VACCINE’
Speaking to journalists at Metehan yesterday Dr Cenk Soydan, of the bicommunal Health Technical Committee, said that the J&J vaccine provides a “great advantage” because it is a “single dose vaccine” which can be stored at 2C to 8C.
He added that it was the largest shipment from the EU so far and that the EU will send more AstraZeneca doses next week. Health Minister Ünal Üstel, speaking at a press conference earlier in the week, thanked Turkey for the 190,000 vaccines it has sent to date.
“We aim to vaccinate 60 per cent of the public by July,” Mr Üstel told reporters, adding that the TRNC is “planning to integrate into the existing digital Covid-19 systems in the EU and in Turkey” on July 1.
The systems referred to are the “Green Pass” in the EU, which is a digital Covid-19 certificate, and the “e-heartbeat” and “HES” code in Turkey, which identifies whether or not someone is a Covid-19 “risk”.
“After the integration, information regarding Covid-19 test results, disease history and vaccination status of incoming people will be easily checked,” he said.
“Citizens will travel abroad more comfortably and those who come to the country will be able to enter comfortably at the entry points, without waiting.
“A QR code application will also be used in businesses to pave the way for tourism with this application.”
Referring to the “Stay Safe” electronic tagging system for home quarantine, the minister said that 11,993 people had come to the TRNC under the scheme.
Mr Üstel also said that “18 per cent of the population” of North
Cyprus have been fully vaccinated.
Figures from Thursday, June 10, showed that there were 20 new positive Covid-19 cases, seven of which were “local”, three from abroad, and 10 contacts of previous cases who became positive in quarantine. Twenty-six people were being cared for in the pandemic hospital, with two in intensive care.
“When looking at the number of cases, we are among the best countries in the world,” Mr Üstel said.
Health Ministry Undersecretary Deren Oygar said that people aged 49 are now being given appointments for vaccines in some areas.
She added that an average of 60 to 70 people receive the AstraZeneca jab — which is being offered to over-35s without the need for an appointment — every day.
The latest figures show that as of Tuesday, June 8, a total of 139,621 Covid-19 vaccines had been administered, with 62,319 people fully vaccinated with two doses.
This week the Health Ministry announced that some private hospitals that have made deals with the government will provide free antigen testing services.
To sign up to the service, go to the “online hizmetler” (online services) section of the Health Ministry’s website (saglik.gov.ct.tr) and click on “Hızlı Antıjen Test Online Başvuru” (Rapid Antigen Test Online Application) to fill in the application form, which is also in English.
The test results can be accessed via covid-19.gov.ct.tr with a barcode number and ID card or passport number details. An option to download the results in a pdf format will be provided.
❐ A 52-year-old male Covid-19 patient who had been in the Pandemic Hospital’s intensive care unit since May 3 died on Thursday, the Health Ministry announced. The individual also had diabetes. He was the 34th Covid-19 patient to die in the TRNC.