Coronavirus: 2,000 vaccines to be delivered to Turkish Cypriots

Two thousand AstraZeneca vaccines will be delivered to Turkish Cypriot health authorities on Thursday, according to a spokesman.

The spokesman said Turkish Cypriots have already received 4,500 PfizerBiontec jabs in January and February.

The vaccines are part of the ones the EU reserved for Cyprus.

Turkey has also delivered 80,000 Sinovac doses to the north.

The Republic had included the needs of the Turkish Cypriots in the vaccination planning as they were expressed through the bicommunal technical committee on health.

Turkish Cypriots said they requested 400,000 doses but there has not been a clear response yet as to the final number that will be delivered.

The ministry of health said when vaccines were first ordered it had asked for 1.2 million doses to cover the needs of the Turkish Cypriots.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar had said in January that unless the vaccines reserved for his community were delivered directly via the EU and not through the Greek Cypriot side, they would not agree to receive them, sparking a backlash.