COVID19: Vaccination portal reopens, 33-34-year-olds miss out

After a day out of action due to a technical meltdown, Cyprus’ vaccination portal went live Friday with 10,000 bookings made, but those aged 33-34 missed their turn.

A total of 10,110 COVID vaccination appointments were arranged online until 9:15 am Friday by those aged 35-36, despite some early teething problems.

This group were scheduled to book appointments Thursday, but the troubled system crashed meaning, those next in line, 33-34-year-olds, will have to wait a little longer.

The Vaccination Portal opened at 07:30 and will be accessible until 20:00 for people aged 35 and 36.

According to the Ministry of Health, there are 13,473 jabs available to be arranged.

So far, there were 4,664 bookings for the Pfizer vaccine, 1,593 for AstraZeneca, 2,885 for Moderna and 968 for Johnson & Johnson.

Cyprus has vaccinated a third of people with the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but its rollout plans came unstuck Thursday after the online booking portal suffered technical trouble once more.

“Due to a technical problem, the Covid19 Vaccination Portal has been temporarily shut down. In cooperation with the contractor company, the ministry is working intensively for the immediate solution of this problem,” an Innovation Ministry statement said.

Booking procedures were also altered to ease the load on the system and prevent creating bottlenecks.

“Vaccination coverage in Cyprus continues at a steady pace, approaching the target for the first dose by the end of June, to more than 60% of citizens who can be vaccinated,” the Health Ministry said.

People of the age group of 30-39 are currently given priority for vaccination.

“The results of vaccinations have begun to appear in Cyprus, with a dramatic reduction in hospital admissions for the elderly,” said the Health Ministry.

According to data, 84.8% of people aged 80 and over received at least the first dose of the vaccine, while those aged 70-79 coverage is 80.5%.

An increase is also recorded in the 60-69 age group, with the coverage rate reaching 58.4%.