Coronavirus: Tepak says vaccine rule delivering results

Tepak (Cyprus University of Technology) said on Thursday its policy to allow only vaccinated and Covid recovering students to attend courses with a physical presence was proving effective.

The senate’s decision had provoked objections from groups of students late in August.

However, one month after the decision, the number of students attending courses in-person has reached 70 per cent, Tepak said.

According to a written announcement, 1,518 out of 2,168 undergraduate and postgraduate students participate in the courses with a physical presence. Of these 90 per cent are vaccinated, and the rest have recovered from Covid within the last six months.

At the same time the share of vaccinated in academic staff exceeds 95 per cent and among administrative staff is over 85 per cent.

Tepak rector Panayiotis Zafiris said the policy has contributed to the overall protection of public health.

“It was a decision of responsibility towards the members of our community. We communicated the reasoning behind the measures we took correctly and in a comprehensible way. Both the students and the university staff showed understanding,” he said.

He also said the goal is for the percentage of vaccinated students to exceed 80 per cent before the end of the semester, hoping that the classrooms will be 100 per cent full of students in the next semester.

Finally, Zafiris urged all members of the university community to be vaccinated, showing trust in scientists.