Cyprus boosted its vaccination plan by securing an additional 565,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine through the European Union after Brussels increased its total order, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.
Nicosia now expects a total of 957,000 doses from Pfizer-BioNTech to be delivered, the extra 565,000 are expected to arrive between April and September.
With these additional quantities, Cyprus now expects to see around 3.5 million doses from eight pharmaceuticals with which the European Commission has placed orders on behalf of member states.
Amid a world shortage of coronavirus vaccines, there has been a general scramble to obtain vaccines.
The European Commission, which has been negotiating on behalf of the 27 member states, has completed or is close to completing contracts with eight pharmaceutical companies.
At the moment, pending the licensing of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the end of January, and the submission and approval of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) and CureVac vaccine applications, Cyprus is expected in the coming months to receive sufficient quantities to vaccinate a large part of its population.
Cyprus can now vaccinate about 120,000 people by the end of March (1st quarter) and an additional 450,000 people by the end of June (2nd quarter).
Provided that the vaccines under consideration are approved and based on expected delivery, the goal is to fully cover the adult population by the end of September (3rd quarter) of 2021, said the health ministry.
The ministry said it would be updating its vaccination schedule as more vaccines get approved and start arriving in Cyprus.
Source: Financial Mirror
