Cyprus suspends AstraZeneca Vaccinations

[galexinda]

The Health Ministry said in an announcement on Monday evening that it suspends vaccinations in Cyprus with the AstraZeneca jabs pending a safety assessment from EMA’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee on 18 March.

“Pending the opinion of the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) of the European Medicines Agency, which is investigating a number of cases of blood clots in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine in EU countries, it was decided today to temporarily suspend inoculations with the AstraZeneca vaccine until Thursday, March 18,” the Health Ministry said.

The Ministry clarified that the scheduled appointments with the vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech will be carried out normally.

https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/cyprus- ... USXMaMM1rY

[Anarita John]

I was due to get my astrazenica jab tomorro, in Limassol. Just have to wait and see what happens.

[WHL]

In the words of corporal Jones, don't panic.

[Anarita John]

No emails from Gesy or texts. Tried to login in to my gesy account but it goes to an error page, and yet Rosemary is able to login. Supposed to be in Limassol for my jab at 9:30am but seems no point in going. Will check again in the morning. They have my mobile number and email address so should get in touch.

[June]

So 40 odd cases out of 17 million ? ....... Seriously ??

[CYWALL]

Unless I'm reading this wrong then appointments go on as normal but with a different vaccine. ''The Ministry clarified that the scheduled appointments with the vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech will be carried out normally''.

[galexinda]

Unless I'm reading this wrong then appointments go on as normal but with a different vaccine. ''The Ministry clarified that the scheduled appointments with the vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer / BioNTech will be carried out normally''.

Usually all the vaccines are allocated until the appointments have been filled for each vaccine and then the government waits for the next batch to arrive in Cyprus and allocates them to the respective centres and puts out an official announcement informing the eligible public when to book an appointment.

I did refer last week to an article that stated more vaccines would roll out today for the same 67+ age group but there has been no official announcement by the Ministry of Health.

I believe the quoted sentence was just to clarify that people already booked in for Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations must still turn up for their appointments - however, all will be revealed as the day progresses.

[Anarita John]

We did not go to Limassol this morning. After much searching this morning, I eventually phoned 1474. Very helpful. Was told my appointment was postponed and I would be offered a new one.

[bromerzz]

If you go on the GESY beneficiary portal, under the Vaccination tab you will currently see a message as follows:

ALL AVAILABLE VACCINES HAVE BEEN RESERVED YOU MAY NOT PROCEED WITH THE BOOKING OF AN APPOINTMENT

I have had my first jab (AZ) so quite happy at present.

[bromerzz]

In Cyprus if there is more than one vaccine "in stock" and when using the online booking system you could choose which one you wanted to have.

[galexinda]

In Cyprus you have the choice of vaccine and where you have it - one couple had a pleasant outing from Paphos to Troodos for theirs and many chose to go to Limassol when the appointments in Paphos and Polis were full.

Some people are recommended to avoid Pfizer if they have had serious reactions eg to Penicillin or have had an episode of anaphylactic shock so it gave them the opportunity to book Astrazeneca which is produced by a different method. Moderna is the other current alternative and Cyprus is looking into other vaccines on offer.

Other people have been reading up about the various vaccines available and make a choice, but most of the people I have spoken to are happy with whichever vaccine is on offer.

To complete the picture there is a group of people who cannot have any vaccinations because of their 'ingredients' and there are those who do not want to have the vaccine under any circumstances.

I think that just about covers it! As I have said previously - each to their own. It is a personal decision and one which I respect.

[Mike.1940]

If you look at the Pfizer vaccine figures you will see almost identical numbers of people with blood clots as those who have had Astrazeneca here in the UK. Then compare the figures to normal times and you will see there have always been people with blood clots who have other symptoms as well.
If you want to be safe then then take whatever is on offer when it is your turn.

[PolemIan]

Bonkers in my view. 37 out of 17 million is something like 0.0000017%. Which is statistically speaking is about as close to zero as you can get. So are we all stop using Cif, Dettol, Domestos etc because they only kill 99.99% if all known germs? Of course not. Apply that percentage to the Cyprus population and you end with a prediction of about 2 people (if you round it up).

The phrase “have a sense of proportion” springs to mind.

Ian

[Firefly]

Not sure why the AZ vaccine is being singled out by EU countries as unsafe, ( I could speculate ) when the WHO have given it the green light, likewise tests carried out whilst the vaccine was in it's infancy do not show a risk of thrombosis.

Have the numbers of people who have experienced thrombosis throughout the EU, but have not received the vaccine within the same time frame, been considered ? I doubt it.

[PolemIan]

Firefly, yes it’s been mentioned in the press that numbers reported with the closeting issues of those who have taken the AZ vaccine are lower than would normally be expected in a sample of 17 million (and lower than those who’ve had the Pfizer vaccine).

If the original clinical trial had been 17 million, ie many times more than the actual clinical trial and there had been 37 cases of this issue reported, would the approval have been given by the EMA and others, course it would. The politicians around Europe are being very silly in my view. As I write this, the stories have just been updated with the head of the Italian Medical Regulatory body, has just confirmed the Italian decision is politically motivated, not medically. Given the state of Italy last year, you’d think they would be encouraging people to vaccinate like crazy.

Madness.

Ian

Ian

[Firefly]

Ian

'Politically motivated' well, who would have thought it.

[Anarita John]

Just have to wait and see what happens. Will not be putting ourselves at risk by going out other than essential supplies until we have both had the vaccine, as numbers have been rising and are greater than the summer and autumn, when we did risk going out. Annoyed that I was so near to getting vaccinated. Still have not had a text or any communication from gesy. If I have not heard by Thursday I will give the covid line a ring.

[andytspencer]

O EMBOΛIAΣMOΣ ΣAΣ ΣTIΣ 16 MAPTIOY 2021 ME EMBOΛIO THΣ AstraZeneca ANABAΛΛETAI ΠPOΣΩPINA ΣE ANAMONH ΣXETIKHΣ ΓNΩMOΔOTHΣHΣ TOY EYPΩΠAIKOY OPΓANIΣMOY ΦAPMAKΩN. YΠOYPΓEIO YΓEIAΣ
Got this text from MinOfHealth

[JimX]

What will now happen when those folks who have had the first dose and the second has been stopped?

[memory man]

I was due to get first jab tomorrow, but now it's postponed until !!!!