President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades received on Monday morning the first dose of the COVID19 vaccine at the health center of Latsia, in Nicosia.

In statements after his vaccination which was shown live on TV, the President described the vaccine as a gift of life and added that there is now hope that the pandemic, which turned our lives upside down and lead to the loss of lives and jobs, will finally be addressed.

The President  thanked the scientific community for the vaccine, the doctors and nurses who are at the front line, and said that we have now reached the countdown to defeat the invisible enemy.

Noting that there is still a way to go until the final victory, he said that citizens must continue taking protective measures and complying with the government`s measures, noting that he fully understands how people are affected and may feel that their freedoms are being violated.

The President appealed to all those who have concerns about the vaccine, saying that solidarity is needed.

“I want to make an appeal to those who have doubts or concerns about the vaccine. There is no disease that is not treated with medication or vaccine. I do not think that there has ever been such a reaction as there is today,” he said.

Noting that everyone has the right to have their own beliefs and decide with free will whether to be vaccinated or not, the President said that there has to be solidarity among us, as it is “the vaccine that will protect us and strengthen not just the hope but the right to life”.

He expressed hope that these will be the last months for trial and that 2021 will be the restart of a new path to the life as we knew it. 

Asked if vaccines have been sent to the Turkish- Cypriot community, he said that the arrangements made by the government of Cyprus are to cover the entire population of the Republic, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

“The Technical Committee on health issues is in consultation, it is a matter of the necessary infrastructure that must exist in the occupied part of our country so that the Turkish Cypriots can be supplied with the appropriate vaccines”, the President concluded.