The Ministry of Health’s vaccination plan for seasonal flu is expected to take effect in mid-October. The plan also covers the respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19, with officials stating that the necessary steps have been taken to ensure sufficient supplies and uninterrupted coverage of the population’s needs.
The Ministry of Health will gradually receive 170,000 flu vaccines. According to the schedule, over the next two months, the following COVID-19 vaccines will be made available to the relevant authorities: 112,722 doses for adults and another 11,550 for children. For RSV, there are already vaccine stocks to meet the needs of pregnant women and children.
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Rates Are “Falling”
Vaccination rates among children in European Union countries are not particularly encouraging, falling short of the historic rates Europe had achieved in recent decades. A study published in The Lancet shows that 16 European Union countries have recorded a decline in vaccination rates for at least four vaccines.
Cyprus, along with Bulgaria, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, and Sweden, are among the countries where vaccination rates have declined for all seven vaccines under study. A decline in five of the seven childhood vaccines was recorded in Germany and Spain.
The researchers reached the interesting conclusion that, upon examining data from the past 40 years on vaccination rates for the seven vaccines, the largest declines in childhood vaccinations occurred between 2019 and 2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. Concluding that the health crisis played a role by fueling mistrust and misinformation, they they highlight the urgent need to ensure high and sustained vaccination coverage to prevent the resurgence of infectious diseases.
“Over the past 50 years, vaccinations have reduced the impact of diseases such as tetanus, whooping cough, pneumonia, measles, influenza, and diphtheria, preventing more than 154 million deaths worldwide, particularly among children.”
The Lancet Regional Health
The most significant recent declines that have raised alarm bells among experts have been observed in vaccinations against meningitis B and polio in at least 20 countries, as well as against hepatitis B, with vaccination rates declining in 18 countries.
Watch the report by Nasia Ioannou:
