The vaccination portal will from Friday be open for all ages 18 and above until the last available appointment is booked, the health ministry announced.

The health ministry will place appointments at regular intervals according to the vaccines received, it added.

“At younger ages and especially in people under 30 years old… there is a reduced interest in vaccinations,” Health Minister Costantinos Ioannou said on Friday.

“The last few days that the vaccination portal was open for those under 40 the interest was reduced… we would expect many more appointments to have been made,” he added.

“With the mutations that are observed… we also see hospitalisations at a young age, it is necessary that they come to be vaccinated,” Ioannou urged.

The minister repeated its call for all citizens to get vaccinated to protect society.

“The only way out of the health crisis is vaccination,” Ioannou added.

Excessive complacency is our biggest enemy in the ongoing battle against the virus and can delay our safe return to normalcy, the ministry had earlier said.