Over 5,000 seafarers have been vaccinated by Cyprus, as the country took the initiative to offer Covid-19 vaccines to entire crews of ships that have the Cypriot flag, are porting on the country’s ports, and running any Cyprus-managed ships.
According to the deputy shipping minister Vassilis Demetriades, Cyprus is exploring the possibilities of transforming itself as an active vaccination hub for all seafarers. The deputy minister also stated that the aim is to cover the vaccination of 40,000 seafarers.
Namely, the owners of ships and vessels can request the number of vaccines for all staff members who wish to be vaccinated.
The vaccination jabs are supervised by the Ministry of Health Administration in Cyprus, and seafarers are given the Johnson & Johnson and AstraZene vaccines.
The deputy minister also added the government intention to organise the vaccination of crews with vaccines donated from other states.
However, such an initiative would requires the shipowners’ and seafarers’ organisations to actively contribute to a widely mapping exercise that will help the Cyprus Government to identify the vaccination count for the seafarers ashore.
Finally, the deputy minister stated that Cyprus has has implemented a quick crew change initiative to the entire process.
