Children aged 12-15 to be included in Cyprus’ vaccination fight against Covid

Cyprus has announced that children aged 12 to 15 will soon be included in the island’s mass vaccination campaign against coronavirus, with adolescents eligible to receive either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

The island declared the measure on Friday, saying teenagers will be eligible to get vaccinated against coronavirus from August 2 onwards. Cyprus’ Health Minister, Michalis Hadjipantela, voiced that the move was needed in the fight against the pandemic, stating that “the only way we can stop the emergence of new aggressive strains (of Covid-19) is vaccination”.

Hadjipantela called on youths to participate in the inoculation campaign, with the minister saying “We particularly invite our young people to take the big step and get vaccinated in order to protect their grandparents, their parents, themselves and the whole of our society.”

Children in Cyprus will receive a dose of an mRNA vaccine, either from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, as long as they have their parents’ consent.

Cyprus’ decision to offer coronavirus vaccines to adolescents comes after the European Medicinal Agency (EMA) issued a statement approving Moderna, also known as Spikevax, for administration in 12-to-17 year-olds last week. The medical regulator had already approved Pfizer for use in children aged 12 to 15 within the EU in late May.

The island has become just one of the most recent countries to roll out coronavirus vaccines for minors. On Tuesday, Ireland expanded its inoculation campaign to 16-17 year olds, and promised to have all 12-to-15 year-olds vaccinated by mid-September. France and Denmark have also given the green light to vaccinating their child populations.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Cyprus has registered just over 100,700 coronavirus cases, with 416 people succumbing to the virus.

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