Coronavirus: Head of advisory team repeats call for testing of vaccinated

The head of the government’s Covid-19 advisory team has issued a strong call for a revision of the current measures – perhaps most notably that the vaccinated should be subject to coronavirus tests.

Constantinos Tsioutis has taken to social media to highlight what he views to be a poor messaging campaign that has led to confusion amongst the public. He gave the example that – without scientific evidence – some are claiming that booster doses will help limit the spread of the virus, the claim that people are not abiding by the measures, and the assertion that schools are responsible for the ‘outbreak’.

He highlighted that about 30 per cent of the daily positives are amongst the vaccinated, that the positivity rate within schools is “at least ten times less than amongst the general public” and that 40 per cent of those hospitalised are vaccinated.

Another point that appeared to irk the advisor was the claim that the ‘outbreak’ is due to the low vaccination coverage.

As head of the team, Tsioutis has on multiple occasions sought to update – or in this case, reverse – the policy on not testing the vaccinated.

It is likely to prove unpopular in many quarters however, as taking the vaccine was billed and viewed as a ‘sweetener’ – as those who took the vaccine no longer had to go through the often laborious and tedious task of queueing for rapid tests.

At the time, the public had to queue in the summer heat for their weekly tests and many, particularly amongst the younger population, said that they took the vaccine for easier access to places such as bars, cafes and restaurants.

Indeed, many of the unvaccinated have complained that a sizeable portion of the vaccinated are unlikely to have taken a coronavirus test for months.

“The vaccination coverage amongst the adult population is at 82 per cent, therefore, in areas of community contact 20 per cent are unvaccinated but have a mandatory test, 80 per cent have not gone through such checks.

“Daily transmissions with a noticeable increase in the past few days, 30 per cent [of the positives] are amongst the vaccinated,” Tsioutis wrote on Twitter.

But it’s not the first time that Tsioutis has drawn attention to the lack of data stemming from the decision to omit the vaccinated from taking coronavirus tests.

In mid-September, Tsioutis made a similar call for the vaccinated – or at least some groups, at certain locations – to be undergo testing for Covid-19.

He has previously argued that the decision to not test those who are vaccinated leaves us in the dark as to the transmission of Covid-19 amongst the jabbed.

In concluding his statements, Tsioutis asked: “Who takes [coronavirus] tests and why? How many vaccinated people take tests and why? What is the true positivity rate? What is the effectiveness of the vaccine in Cyprus, today?”