“Anyone who refuses to be vaccinated, for me are traitors because they are collaborating with an enemy who is a murderer,” one said
A 84-year-old man, Andreas Raounas and an 88-year-old woman Panagiota Loizou-Fylaktou, and Athos Matsas, the director of the Melathron retirement home in Nicosia, where the elderly pair lives, were the very first people to receive the Pfizer mRNA vaccine in Cyprus on Sunday, the health ministry said.
“Expressing his joy that he was one of the first to receive the vaccine, Mr Raounas conveyed the wish that everything goes well and called on all citizens to be vaccinated, saying that ‘only with this action can we destroy the coronavirus’,” the ministry quoted him as saying.
He apparently added that it was not possible for some to fight for the good “and for us to be their opponents”.
“Anyone who refuses to be vaccinated, for me, are traitors because they are collaborating with an enemy who is a murderer,” the elderly man reportedly said, according to the ministry.
“All of us who have chosen to be vaccinated are aware that there may be some side effects, but if the coronavirus hits you, then it will take you with it.”
He also thanked EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides and the Cypriot health minister and all those who seek to manage the pandemic “with the result that Cyprus today celebrates an history day with the vaccination of all of us”.
The first woman vaccinated, Loizou-Fylaktou, when asked how she felt, said: “Everything is fine. I told Mr Athos (the director of Melathron) that I want to be vaccinated first.”
Speaking about her son and her two grandchildren, she said that the reason she was vaccinated and her example will be followed by her son and his wife, “is for my grandchildren to come and see me.”
“Mr Matsas who with his vaccination shows his confidence in the world scientific community said the ultimate goal and purpose is the eradication of Covid-19,” the ministry said.
“By my example, I want to influence other people at a younger age, because I believe that vaccination is necessary,” Matsas reportedly said, according to the ministry.
Addressing all employees in nursing homes, Matsas added that vaccination was a personal choice for everyone.
“However, our rights end where the rights of others begin,” he said.
“If you have a job that deals with the health and care of other people, it is imperative that you be vaccinated so that there is no case of transmitting the coronavirus even without your knowledge or unintentionally,” he concluded.
