11% of adults without a jab

More than one out of ten adults in Cyprus have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, unfazed by the high number of cases and deaths that reached 900 on the second anniversary of the pandemic.

Dr. Christos Petrou, government advisor on vaccinations, said that some 83,000 Cypriots over the age of 18, or around 11% of the adult population, have not taken a single COVID19 shot.

In comments to CyBC state radio, Petrou said that it would appear that these people have made up their minds and will not be rolling up their sleeves for a coronavirus jab. He added that about 1,200 vaccinations are now being carried out every day, of which 1,000 are booster shots.

Asked about the effectiveness of vaccines, Petrou said that the mortality rate among vaccinated people is extremely low.

He said that the death rate for the unvaccinated is 80 people for every 100,000 unvaccinated, while for those who are fully vaccinated, the number decreases to 7.8 people.

Dr. Petrou noted, however, that despite the surge in cases in Europe, powered by the Omicron variant, the high rate of vaccination coverage has softened the blow on hospital admissions and deaths.

Petrou’s comments come as health authorities announced that the first two and a half months of the year accounted for more than a quarter of all COVID-19 deaths since the first case was identified on the island two years ago.

In the first 76 days of 2022 – from January 1 until Tuesday, March 15 – some 231 deaths were recorded out of a total of 904 occurring during the 757 days since March 2020. So far, the first two weeks of March have seen 43 deaths. January this year was the deadliest with 101 deaths, with February recording 91. August last year held the record at the time with 80 deaths.

According to Health Ministry data, out of the 229 deaths in 2022, for which information is available, 35 were people who had received three shots of a COVID-19 vaccine, 15 of whom were over 80 years old. Some 137 people did not have a vaccination history, of whom 134 (60%) were people over the age of 50, and 104 were over 70 years old.

A further 41 people had been partly vaccinated with one dose of a vaccine and nine had received both doses.

Overall, 79.45% of this year’s deaths involved people without a vaccination history, 27.4% had been partially vaccinated, 15.2% people had received two shots of a COVID vaccine and 7.8% involved people who had had a booster shot.

Second booster for the elderly

Cyprus health authorities are ushering in a second COVID-19 booster shot for the elderly and the immunocompromised, amid concerns over a stubbornly high number of deaths that topped 902 since the pandemic started, nearly a third of which in the last three months alone.

The vaccination advisory body said that it was recommending the rollout of a fourth COVID-19 jab for people over 70, and all immunocompromised adults, regardless of age. First booster shots will also be made available to children over the age of 12. The decision was taken as March is on its way to becoming the deadliest month on record, as in the first two weeks 41 patients lost their lives to COVID-19. On average, some three deaths were reported daily by health authorities this month.

January was the deadliest month on record with 101 patients losing their lives to COVID-19. February, the shortest month of the year, came close recording 91 deaths.

A ministry update on the vaccination history of people in hospital on March 8 showed that 35% of patients had received booster shots., while 80.5% of them were over the age of 70.

About 50% of the 867 deaths reported as at March 2, were 69-86 years old, with a median age of death of 79 years.

According to the latest epidemiological report issued by the Health Ministry, 56% of the total number of deaths for February were people aged 60 and older without a history of vaccination. In recent comments to the Cyprus News Agency, the head of the team of scientists advising the government on handling the coronavirus pandemic, Dr Constantinos Tsioutis, had said that the rise in deaths is attributable to the increased transmission of the virus in