COVID19: Cyprus to get 100,000 extra Pfizer doses

Cyprus will receive an additional 100,000 doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine by June as doubts grow around Janssen and AstraZeneca.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the delivery of 50 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine would be accelerated to Q2, starting this month.

“Excellent news…we have been informed that Cyprus will receive an additional 100,000 doses by June,” tweeted Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou.

The news comes as Cyprus put the brakes on the Janssen vaccine after receiving delivery of 2,400 doses.

Health authorities putting Janssen on hold, following a recommendation by makers Johnson & Johnson to wait for the EU to complete an investigation into a small number of thrombosis incidents in the US.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has received the US data and will issue a scientific opinion.

European regulators also found a possible link between AstraZeneca and a similar rare blood clotting problem to the one connected to the single-shot Janssen vaccine.

People shunning AZ has disrupted the Health Ministry’s vaccination rollout plans as Cypriots are reluctant to choose it, preferring Pfizer or Moderna.