With approval expected from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine expected by the end of the year, Cyprus has ordered the special equipment needed for storage, it emerged on Wednesday.

Vaccinations against the new coronavirus are expected to start soon, Dr. Christos Petrou, Associate Professor of the Pharmacy Program at the University of Nicosia, told CNA on Wednesday, adding that the distribution of vaccines in Europe will begin in the last ten days of December.

Cyprus posted a general government deficit amounting to €727 million for the period of January – October 2020, compared to a surplus of €639 million in the respective period of last year due to launch of government support measures and the reduced public revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Cyprus hoteliers are placing their money on a new three-tier safe travel list, which the government is working on for the next tourist season, granting conditional entry to all travellers.

Employers cannot justify laying off staff by blaming the coronavirus crisis, as the government will continue to support businesses until the end of the year, said Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou.

Based on English case law, winding up orders have been made in, among other instances, the following circumstances, where:

Paphos was one of the most searched tourist destinations last summer, according to research by Sojern, a specialist in travel advertising and research. But news of vaccines have only provided a slight overall boost to travel in Europe.

Cyprus has been ranked 22nd out of 58 destinations in the Expat Insider 2020 survey, InterNations, the largest global community and a source of information for people who live and work abroad, shared with the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday.

Hellenic Bank posted a net profit of €40 million in the first nine months marking a 55% dip in profits from last year, due to increased provisions to cover credit loss during the pandemic.

A new call centre was launched to provide support and information on all issues related to the local coronavirus pandemic and rules in place.