Around one in five European Union (EU) citizens have received a third COVID-19 vaccine dose, European Commissioner for Health Stella Kyriakides has said. Kyriakides, a Cypriot psychologist and politician, said that the ratio now stands at 19 percent in a telephone interview with Cyprus' CyBC state radio on Monday. Medical experts say that a third vaccine dose is necessary to boost the protection of older people and those with chronic medical problems, such as diabetes, against COVID-19. Kyriakides also said that close coordination among EU member states is needed to cope with the new wave of the pandemic. She warned that the situation ahead promises to be "problematic." "I cannot say exactly how the situation will develop, but I expect the Omicron mutation, which is much more contagious, to exacerbate the problems," she said. Kyriakides urged EU citizens to get vaccinated and to meticulously observe the personal protection measures to prevent the spread of infection. Cyprus has a higher than the EU average rate of people who have received either two or three vaccine doses, but the rate is low (25 percent) among people under 18 years of age, according to the latest figures quoted by an official from the Health Ministry. Also on Monday, Malta's Health Minister Chris Fearne said more than two-thirds of new COVID-19 cases being detected in his country are down to the Omicron variant. "Two-thirds (67 percent) of new COVID cases currently sequenced in Malta are now Omicron," the minister said on Twitter, adding that vaccination with booster doses "remains vitally important." — Agencies
