Coronavirus:  Nurses urge ministry action to smooth vaccination process

Dogged by problems, vaccination centres need the Ministry of Health’s help to regulate both the supply of vaccines and flow of staff, the state nurses’ union (Pasyno) said on Wednesday.

The national vaccination plan has accelerated significantly over the past weeks, recently entering the 30-39 age group. This has increased demand for vaccinations, with 10,000 appointments booked within ten minutes of the portal opening for 37 and 38 year olds on Tuesday.

While a positive indicator that Cyprus could, at this rate, achieve the goal of vaccinating 70 per cent of the population by the end of summer, increased demand has also put pressure on the health professionals responsible for administering the vaccines.

“It is impossible for a vaccination centre that can normally serve 1,000 people to suddenly be able to serve twice as many with the same number of staff,” Pasyno spokesman Christos Christodoulou told the Cyprus News Agency.

Staff have had to reduce the time spent on each vaccination from three or four minutes to one and a half, which is tricky when older or vulnerable individuals are concerned.

Christodoulou pointed towards a need for more or larger vaccination centres equipped with more staff as “we are now dependent on the goodwill of colleagues who are supposed to work from 7.30am to 3pm but end up helping until 7pm”.

He added that those working overtime at hospitals are also having to do even more overtime work at the centres, as they are extremely short-staffed.

If this is to work, Christodoulou added, the ministry should take drastic measures. “Instead of stopping at announcements about increased vaccine demand, it needs to ensure it has enough staff to carry out those vaccinations”.

Referring to overcrowding and delays outside the Spyros Kyprianou vaccination centre in Limassol on Tuesday, he said that the problem has been resolved with people able to sit inside as they wait and the process operating more smoothly.

Nevertheless, he added that the centre now has 3,400 vaccine doses to administer when it has a capacity of administering 1,600 jabs a day.

The situation is also difficult for health visitors being called to work overtime, Christodoulou added.

Health visitors working overtime for twelve hours a day, from 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening is considered a given by the ministry, he said, adding that “Those who envisioned this vaccination programme did not anticipate that an employee should have a break for their basic needs”.

Due to the inconveniences reported at vaccination centres, such as a lack of air conditioning, people are channelling their anger towards the health professionals administering vaccines.

Specifically, he said that the State Fair building the largest vaccination centre in Nicosia, as well as the Nicosia Health Centre, are not air-conditioned.

To top it all off, Christodoulou concluded, health professionals have not received any overtime pay for their work last March, something he called “unacceptable”.

Meanwhile, Limassol Municipality has also urged action, saying that the unacceptable events that happened yesterday at the Spyros Kyprianou vaccination centre, which highly inconvenienced hundreds of people who came for their scheduled appointments, must not be repeated.