Coronavirus: Preparations to receive vaccine continue at ‘feverish’ pace

The ministry of health is expected to announce on Tuesday it is fully prepared for the first batch of coronavirus vaccines, the Cyprus News Agency said on Sunday, as full details of its rollout are expected from the minister on Tuesday.

Preparations are proceeding at a feverish pace, the news agency said.

A source told CNA that the vaccine will be stored and transported according to manufacture instructions.

The first vaccines to arrive in Cyprus are those of Pfizer, while the fridges needed to store them are expected to arrive on the island before Christmas.

The storage and transport of Pfizer vaccines is governed by special and sensitive conditions, which is why the Ministry of Health has already ordered the appropriate refrigerators for the storage of vaccines, which are expected in Cyprus before Christmas.

The same source said there would be a large number of vaccination centres as well as the use of mobile vaccination units.

Cyprus has ordered vaccines from four different countries as part of an EU-wide move.

The island expected to receive 600,000 from AstraZeneca, 200,000 from Johnson&Johnson and 200,000 from Pfizer/BioNTech.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.