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Vaccination portal opens for appointments of 12-15 year olds

02/08/2021 12:03

Appointments for the vaccination of  12-15 year-olds against COVID19 were made available as of Monday through the Vaccination Portal.

The vaccination of children is voluntary and it will be done after the consent of the parents/guardians.

The decision to proceed with vaccination of the 12-15 year-olds was taken last week by the Council of Ministers, taking into account the recommendations of the Cyprus Pediatric Society and the Scientific Advisory Committee, and in an effort to increase the vaccination coverage of the population.

The purpose of this measure is to minimize any coronavirus outbreak during the new school year which begins in September.

It is noted that several other EU countries such as France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Greece are also proceeding with this measure to achieve greater coverage of the population.  The Vaccination Portal remains open for all ages as long as there is vaccines availability.

The procedure to be followed for the vaccination of minors provides that parents/legal guardians, as well as children’s Personal Doctors, can arrange appointments for minors through the Vaccination Portal, selecting an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna) as it is the only vaccine currently approved by the European Medicines Agency for administration to persons aged 12 years and over.

The Ministry says that when visiting the Vaccination Centres for the administration of the first dose of the vaccine, children must provide the following documentation: Written consent form of Parents/Guardians for the Vaccination of Minors with the COVID-19 Vaccine signed by both parents/guardians, unless legally (subject to a Court ruling) this is not necessary. The Form should be delivered to the Vaccination Centres upon arrival.

They should also have an identification document of the minor (e.g. identity card, passport, Alien Registration Card, etc.). In case the minor is accompanied by the parents/guardians (or one of them), they should present an identification document. The document must be presented to the officials of the Vaccination Centre for verification purposes.

When visiting the Vaccination Centre for the administration of the 2nd dose, minors should provide an identity card or another official identification document for the purpose of verifying their data.

During vaccination both with the 1st dose and the 2nd dose, the minor may be accompanied by an adult person other than his/her parents/legal guardians. In this case, the competent health professionals at the Vaccination Centre will contact the parent/legal guardian before vaccination to confirm that the adult accompanying the child has been designated by the parent/legal guardian.

Strict compliance with the above is recommended in order to avoid delays at the Vaccination Centres, the Ministry says.