Coronavirus: First batch of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine arrives in Cyprus (updated)

The first batch of the Moderna vaccine against Covid-19 arrived on Tuesday evening in Cyprus, according to the Ministry of Health.

It includes 1,200 doses of the Μoderna vaccine. In the first three months of 2021 Cyprus is expected to receive a total of 16,500 Moderna vaccines.

This vaccine has to be kept in storage under the same conditions with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and in Cyprus they will be stored in one of the two refrigerators the State Health Services Organisation has for this reason.

The health ministry has also published general instructions for the public regarding the Moderna vaccine as well as a list of possible common side effects, including pains, chills, fever and headaches.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation for Covid-19 Vaccine Moderna to prevent Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in people from 18 years of age on January 6.

In a press release, it said among other things that a very large clinical trial showed that COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna was effective at preventing Covid- 19 in people from 18 years of age.

The trial involved around 30,000 people in total. Half received the vaccine and half were given a placebo. People did not know whether they received the vaccine or the placebo injections.

Efficacy was calculated in around 28,000 people from 18 to 94 years of age who had no sign of previous infection.

The trial showed a 94.1% reduction in the number of symptomatic Covid-19 cases in the people who received the vaccine (11 out of 14,134 vaccinated people got Covid-19 with symptoms) compared with people who received placebos (185 out of 14,073 people who received placebos got Covid-19 with symptoms). This means that the vaccine demonstrated a 94.1% efficacy in the trial.

The trial also showed 90.9% efficacy in participants at risk of severe Covid-19, including those with chronic lung disease, heart disease, obesity, liver disease, diabetes or HIV infection. The high efficacy was also maintained across genders, racial and ethnic groups.

The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine is given as two injections into the arm, 28 days apart.