COVID19: Cyprus applauds Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine approval

Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou praised the European Medicines Agency’s decision on Monday to grant the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, conditional marketing authorisation, allowing EU countries to start vaccination programs.

Ioannou tweeted: “Today’s decision to grant permission for the vaccine in EU countries fills us with hope, as it signals the beginning of the end of the pandemic.”

He also confirmed that Cyprus is expecting the first batch of vaccines to arrive in the next few days, with vaccinations due to start on December 27.

“This is EU’s moment,” said Cypriot Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides in a Tweet following the EMA’s decision to give the “green light” to the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

“We are one step closer to a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine,” Kyriakides said.

EU chief executive Ursula von der Leyen also praised the decision, saying the Commission would act quickly.

She added that the EU Commission would give the green light to member states to go ahead with vaccinations.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the use of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in Europe reassuring the public of the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.

The Agency assured that safety was a priority in terms of vaccine evaluation.

Regarding the new coronavirus strain found in the UK, the EMA said “there is no evidence that the vaccine is not effective against the new coronavirus strain”.