Coronavirus: Vaccines open road to normality, Perdios says

Vaccinations are key to the recovery of the tourism industry in Cyprus, not only for this year, but also for the years to come, according to the Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios.

Perdios, along with all cabinet members who were not yet vaccinated, received his first AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday to boost people’s trust in the vaccine.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency after receiving his jab, Perdios said that the return to normality will necessarily depend on everyone getting vaccinated.

He also advocated for the safety of the AstraZeneca jab, which has come under fire in the past weeks after reports of a possible link with extremely rare cases of blood clotting.

“We should all get vaccinated. The more people who receive the vaccine, the more chances we will have to reach immunity from the virus and to do better in terms of tourism this summer,” he said.

Perdios revealed that, during his conversations with commercial partners and tour operators, the main topic discussed concerns Cyprus’ general epidemiological picture.

“Unfortunately, the picture changes so often that it is impossible for anyone to make predictions on how the situation will be in the summer.”

He pointed out that many airlines and tour operators who have Cyprus among their destinations have still to make any decisions regarding the arrival of tourists to the island, due to the uncertainty over the situation with coronavirus.

“It is a difficult situation,” he admitted. “We have a protocol in place regarding the arrival of tourists from abroad and we have done everything and above to safeguard our safety.

“We have done our part. Now we are waiting to see what other countries will decide to do,” Perdios concluded.