Coronavirus: Vaccine portal for 64+ opens after low uptake among diabetics and obese

The vaccination portal will open for people aged 64 and over on Thursday at 8 am, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

A total of 17,814 slots will be available and appointments can be booked until 7.00 pm on Sunday.

Slots will be available for all three available licensed vaccines, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech and will be administered at vaccination centres islandwide.

“Within the framework of the gradual easing of restrictive measures which to a large extent depends on the share of the population protected through the vaccination coverage to be achieved over the next weeks, the public is urged to proceed with arranging an appointment for their vaccination as soon as possible, depending on the priority given,” the health ministry said.

Earlier on Wednesday, health ministry spokeswoman Margarita Kyriakou said that vaccination efforts were focusing on vulnerable groups, as well as the general population by age. Authorities are also reviewing calls to give priority to specific professions critical to the economy.

Only about 7,200 of the more than 19,000 slots available for insulin-dependent diabetics and severely obese were booked on Monday and Tuesday, prompting the ministry to decide to close it later a day earlier than initially planned. It will now close at 7.00 pm on Wednesday, rather than at 7.00 pm on Thursday as initially planned. Those who do not book by then will need to wait for openings under their age group for the general population.

This has allowed it to bring forward appointments for people aged 64 and over.

The portal will open again for a different special health group on Monday.