Positive Covid-19 cases among vaccinated care home residents are ‘not worrying’, the head of care home owners’ association Loukia Gregoriou told the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday.

Following reports that 20 coronavirus cases were traced in care homes nationwide, Gregoriou said that 99.9 per cent of the elderly population living in nursing homes have completed their vaccination in the beginning of the year.

“We are not particularly concerned as they were vaccinated about three months ago,” she said.

Authorised vaccines administrated in Cyprus require about two weeks after the second dose to be fully effective, according to experts.

Some 14 people tested positive with a rapid antigen test for coronavirus at a Tseri service provision centre for the elderly, in Nicosia, another five in a care home in Paphos and one person in Larnaca. The health ministry did not specify how many of those concern residents or staff.

“They [elderly] don’t have any particular symptoms since they completed their vaccination,” Gregoriou added.

Positive cases are expected to self-isolate and other residents will be tested. PCR tests were also expected to be carried out to confirm the positive rapid tests.

According to a health ministry advisor, the risk of infection after receiving an anti-Covid vaccine varies from five to 12 per cent “depending on the type of the vaccine”, Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Virology at the University of Nicosia Medical School Dr Petros Karayiannis told the Cyprus Mail.

“But vaccinated people will not experience serious symptoms from the virus in case of infection,” Karayiannis added.