The youngest patient with COVID is 20 years old and is receiving treatment at the Reference Hospital, Scientific director of the General Hospitals of Larnaca – Famagusta, Amalia Hatzigianni, told CNA.
At the same time, Lecturer at European University Cyprus Zoi Dorothea Pana told CNA that the balance of benefit and risk from vaccinating 16-17 year-olds against COVID-19 with mRNA technology vaccines is very similar to that of adults.
According to Hatzigianni, 26 people are being treated for COVID, four are in the Increased Care Unit. The average age of the patients now stands at 49 with the youngest being only 20 and the oldest 81.
The hospital’s capacity is around 25% since seven new admissions have taken place in the last two days. Tersefanou Rehabilitation Centre accommodates 87 people who remain there until their tests read negative. The centre can accommodate 130 patients.
Hatzigianni said the continued increase in cases is due to the increase in the positivity rate located in the community and the chain of infection. The biggest problem, she added, is the fact that young people have to been vaccinated and the reappearance of infection chains mostly for people under the age of 40 shows that people are now relaxed and not taking personal protective measures. She also said that the Indian variant of COVID-19 is six times more aggressive and spreads rapidly.
She explained that the main symptoms of the Indian mutation are respiratory infections, pneumonia manifested by high fever, cough, shortness of breath and musculoskeletal pain. Sometimes the symptoms mimic signs of cold and those using air conditioners with the current heatwave might think that it is nothing serious and not visit a doctor early enough.
The only weapon we have to fight the coronavirus is vaccination, she added.
Meanwhile, Pediatrics Lecturer at European University Cyprus Zoi Dorothea Pana told CNA that the balance of benefit and risk from vaccinating 16-17 year-olds against COVID-19 with mRNA technology vaccines is very similar to that of adults.
The vaccination of this age group, she added, has been approved for some time now by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). More European countries are adopting this decision, she added.
She underlined that vaccinating these children requires the parents’ consent.
There is concern in Europe, she added, that adults have been vaccinated but children are still unvaccinated which means the virus will be recycled as well as the various mutations.
Already Israel is considering vaccinations to start from babies six months and over mostly due to the Delta variant.
This is a common fight and we must appreciate the parents’ concerns and have an open dialogue with them so that we can explain the value of COVID-19 vaccination, she said.