Two years ago, on such days, our country entered a lockdown for the first time, with the President of the Republic talking about a “war” against an “invisible enemy”. This “invisible enemy” has bothered us a lot over the years and it seems that it will continue to bother us without knowing how much longer. From the first moment the coronavirus entered our lives, conspiracy theories appeared with it. Some of them may have been down over time, but the ubiquitous “movement” has found other ways, either to convince us that the coronavirus does not exist or that it is a simple flu and that vaccines do not protect us. from serious illness. With the percentage of unvaccinated patients declining in recent times, as the number of patients receiving the booster dose has risen sharply, the deniers have again found pressure to argue that the vaccines do not work. But after two years of pandemics and a year and a half since the day the vaccinations began, there are facts that can hardly be disputed. The percentage of unvaccinated patients is announced daily by the Ministry of Health. The question, however, is who is more likely to lose the battle with the virus, the vaccinated or the unvaccinated?From March 21, 2020, the day on which the first death due to the coronavirus was recorded, until March 8, 2022, 883 of our fellow citizens lost the battle with the virus. In January 2022 the number of people who died of the final cause of coronavirus was 100, in February 99 and in the first week of March 17. In total, that is, 883 deaths occurred in 2022, which means that they lose daily their lives because of the coronavirus on average three of our fellow citizens. In terms of vaccinations, by March 8, vaccination coverage for adults had reached 88%, 76% in the general population.
Of the 883 deaths recorded by the Ministry of Health as of March 8, 2022, 68.8% are citizens without a history of vaccination. In particular, 608 of our fellow citizens died without receiving any vaccine dose. As a competent source told “P”, the tragedy of the case is that four out of ten of the citizens who died without being vaccinated were vulnerable and had priority in vaccination.
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275 deaths had a history of vaccination, of which 107 received only one dose of vaccine, so they did not develop antibodies. Of the remaining 168 who were fully vaccinated, 104 became infected with the virus within two weeks of completing their vaccination regimen, suggesting that they did not develop a sufficient number of antibodies. Another 50 fully vaccinated fell ill and died 6 to 8 months after completing their vaccination schedule, with the vast majority of these citizens being over 70 years old. Only 14 of our fellow citizens died having received the commemorative dose. Regarding the profile of these 14 people, nine were over 80 years old and the remaining 5 were over 70 years old. In percentage, the deaths of civilians who received the booster vaccine accounted for only 1.5% of all deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The fully vaccinated amount to 19%.
Vaccinations, of course, did not start from the day the first victims of the coronavirus were recorded, but almost a year later. The first vaccinations took place on December 27, 2020, however, for some months the vaccines that arrived in our country were not enough to vaccinate all adults, with the Ministry of Health imposing age restrictions. Vaccination for all adults was allowed on June 1, 2021. By then, 360 of our fellow human beings had died from the virus. Of the 360, only 27 received one dose of the vaccine, while six were fully vaccinated. Since the right to vaccinate all adults, another 523 of our fellow citizens have died. Of the 523, 311 had no history of vaccination, with 59.4% of those not vaccinated.
One-way vaccination
The above data demonstrate the importance of vaccination. One of the above is the conclusion: 608 of our fellow citizens lost the battle with the virus because they were not vaccinated. Seven out of ten people who have died since the beginning of the pandemic and six out of ten who have not been vaccinated have a history of vaccination. No one can know for sure how many would have died if they had all been vaccinated, the only sure thing is that there would not have been so many. The fact that 76% of the population has been vaccinated for 5 years and over does not mean that there are still no people who are exposed to the virus, Dr. Haris Armeftis told “P”. He also pointed out that the data we have at our disposal should be properly analyzed. Mr. Armeftis stressed the need to focus efforts to advance the vaccination program, as those who are not vaccinated continue to be the majority of patients. Specifically, out of a total number of 680,000 vaccinated, 60 people are treated for coronavirus, while in a much smaller total of 120,000 unvaccinated, 90 are treated. At this stage, only 55% of patients may not have a history of vaccination, however, 55% coming from 14% of the general population means that there is a need to expand the vaccination program. Based on the data available to the Ministry of Health, by March 3, 2022, 72.3% of the general population of Cyprus had completed its vaccination. Regarding the citizens who can be vaccinated, 76.4% of the citizens aged 5 and over were vaccinated. Only 9% of the population in the 5-11 age group was vaccinated. Four out of ten adolescents aged 12-17 years received two doses of the vaccine, with the vaccination rate reaching almost 44%. Fortunately in adults the rates are better, as in the age group of 18-19 years the percentage of vaccinated reaches 61%, 71% at 20-29 years, 80% at 30-39 years, 95% at 40-49 years, 50-59 years old 77%, 93% in 60-69 years old and 98% in those over 70 years old. Minors may be less likely to develop severe symptoms, but that does not mean they can not transmit the virus, with the risk of developing new mutations being visible. Therefore, relaxation in restrictions is also good, but we should also look at the issue of vaccination of minors and what happened to the idea of walk-in vaccinations in schools where cases are often recorded.
