Coronavirus: Cyprus sixth in EU for first dose, third for completed vaccinations (updated)

Cyprus ranks sixth among the 27 EU member states in administering the first dose and third for having completed vaccinations against coronavirus, according to data released by the European centre for disease prevention and control (ECDC) on Thursday.

The statistics emerged as a health ministry official said adults will be given a second chance to book a vaccination appointment.

As of June 3, the island had vaccinated 352,058 people or 50.3 per cent of the eligible population with one dose of the vaccine putting it in the sixth place in the European Union. Cyprus is preceded by Belgium with 50.7 per cent, Germany with 51.5 per cent, Finland with 55.2 per cent, Hungary with 62.4 per cent. Malta is in first place having vaccinated 65.8 per cent of the adult population with at least one dose. Bulgaria ranked last with 14.1 per cent.

The island ranked third in full vaccinations with 29.4 per cent of the adult population (189,593 people) having completed their vaccination. Malta again held first place as 49.7 per cent of people aged 18 and over are fully vaccinated. Second was Hungary with 44.7 per cent, while Bulgaria ranked last with 10.1 per cent.

The national vaccination programme is proceeding at a normal pace, acting head of Medical Services Olga Kalakouta told Trito radio earlier on Thursday.

Next week, the online vaccination portal will reopen for people aged 18 to 29, while in the near future the portal will reopen for everyone, without age limitations, Kalakouta said.

The official added that the 50,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses delivered in recent days will be allocated to people who already received the first dose of the specific vaccine.

Health authorities in Cyprus issued a recommendation to people aged 50 and to choose mRNA vaccines, after a 39-year-old woman died with thrombosis about two weeks after her first dose with AstraZeneca jab.

Cyprus has a target to vaccinate at least 65 per cent of the eligible population by the end of June. According to the data available so far, Cyprus has administered 74.3 doses per 100 individuals of the adult population and 60 doses per 100 individuals of the total population.

The European Union received 293,624,795 vaccine doses as of June 2, of which Cyprus received 785,610, Coreper, the European Union’s council main preparatory body.

Coreper said the EU has approved 1,144 applications by 46 non-European countries to which it has sent 244,912,859 vaccines. These includes Japan, which received 102.9 million doses, the UK 23.7 million, Turkey 18 million, Canada 16 million, Switzerland 12.7 million, Saudi Arabia 10.8 million, Mexico 8.8 million, Korea 4.5 million, Singapore 4.4 million, and Australia 3.7 million.

For ECDC report visit:  https://vaccinetracker.ecdc.europa.eu/public/extensions/COVID-19/vaccine-tracker.html#uptake-tab