Government advisers and experts are proposing various means of increasing vaccine uptake – with some saying that transparent discussions are the way forward while others have called for harsher restrictions on the unvaccinated.

The health ministry said on Friday that the return to triple digits in terms of positive cases was of “great concern”. The cases were occurring among young people who are socialising more since some restrictions were lifted. This has created clusters and increased hospitalisations.

A number of people have also stopped abiding by the health measures, the ministry said, while others hide their contacts from the tracing team if they test positive.

“Complacency leads to a worsening of epidemiological indicators with negative effects on the economy, tourism and business,” the ministry said.

The experts, meanwhile, are turning their attention to the unvaccinated. Cyprus has not quite yet reached its target of 65 per cent jabbed by the end of June, interest in vaccinations has waned, especially among the young, and the debate has begun on how to increase uptake and get through to the unconvinced.

Former government scientific adviser Leondios Kostrikis, head of the biotechnology and molecular virology lab at the University of Cyprus, said the health ministry should embark on an “enlightenment” campaign but at the same time offered a harsh solution. Businesses and public institutions could require members to be vaccinated, or else take coronavirus tests every 72 hours.

He also claims that Cyprus is at the beginning of the fourth wave.

“I don’t believe that this [vaccinations] should happen with force, or with harsh decrees but through the education of the young,” Kostrikis said in an interview with Sigma.

But “there are other tools that someone could use,” he said, suggesting some coercive measures that would include workers being mandated to get the jab by businesses or be made to test every three days.

Kostrikis conceded that legally that vaccinations cannot be made mandatory by government. “I am of the opinion that it is not possible legally to require mandatory vaccinations… but the people who chose to remain unvaccinated for whichever reason, their rights end where other peoples’ rights begin.”

Constantinos Phellas, a current government adviser on the other hand, warned of the risk of dividing society into the vaccinated and unvaccinated.

“It is not us and them. It is not the vaccinated, the good people and the unvaccinated, the bad people. There will only be bad outcomes if we divide society,” he told daily Phileleftheros.

Phellas also said the scientific community and the government has a duty to engage with those who are vaccine hesitant.

“In the past two days we have seen divisions developing and an attempt which may have as its target to persuade people to get vaccinated but those who are unvaccinated may take it as an attack on them,” Phellas said.

Constantinos Tsioutis, also current government advisor struck a conciliatory tone towards the unvaccinated as well, saying: “We have to see the way in which we can understand the reason why our compatriots are not vaccinating and through correct communication and transparency, to build trust in the authorities and science.”

In a long thread on Twitter this week, he also touched on the issue of testing (primarily rapid tests).

He argued that the introduction of the SafePass may have inadvertently blurred our vision, as it cleaved off a significant part of the population (vaccinated, recently recovered) from the government’s rapid test programme.

“This means that the daily rapid test results are from one specific portion of the population and may not reflect the [true] picture (and neither do we identify all the cases),” he wrote.

In concluding, he said: “It is not the fault of a person, area, celebration, rally. It’s a pandemic FFS.”

Zoe Dorothea Pana, also on the scientific team said that it was still possible to prevent a fourth wave. She also strayed away from blaming the unvaccinated for the rise in cases, instead arguing that – understandably – the public have let their guard down and are not as vigilant in adhering to protective measures as they once were.

Asked whether there was a way to reach out to the younger, less vaccinated, age groups other than simply reiterating that they account for most of the cases, Pana told Sigma that the health ministry was set to launch a more targeted campaign.

Another team member, Dr Petros Karayiannis, Professor of Microbiology/Molecular Virology at the University of Nicosia Medical School told CNA that vaccinations should be extended to teens 16+ since 30 per cent of the cases currently range in this age group.

Karayiannis said the Scientific Advisory Committee will hold a teleconference during the weekend to examine the situation and discuss the vaccination of teenagers.

He urged the public to continue taking personal protection measures such as wearing masks, maintaining social distance and those who have not been vaccinated to book their appointment to get the jab.