The balance with which we manage to keep society open must not be disturbed, said Lecturer in Paediatrics at European University Cyprus and member of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of the Ministry of Health, Zoe Dorothea Pana, noting that the discussion on possible relaxations should take into account the fact that we are still going through a pandemic wave, while we have steadily increasing rates in hospitals.
In a statement to the Cyprus News Agency and asked whether any possible relaxations would be discussed at Tuesday's SSC meeting, Pana said that "e are at a stage where we may need to review protocols, regular laboratory testing and generally the way in which Cyprus operates within the framework of the safety we ought to have, given that we are still going through a pandemic wave."
We ought, he said, to have a discussion on the whole and see what we can simplify, how we can help the people who have suffered so much and together find a harmonisation in this framework.
Regarding the possibility of a fourth dose, in addition to the discussion on immunocompromised persons and seniors that is going on abroad, Pana said that for the general population such a question has not been raised yet.
"Not to upset the balance"
"What we talked about last week was to see a little bit again how the situation is stabilising and whatever is new in relation to the strain that is also prevalent in Cyprus, Omicron," the SSC member said.
Pana said we have to take into account the fact that we are going to face a situation "that is special" as the Delta mutation has not been eradicated and on top of the Delta the Omicron came and prevailed. "Yes we are seeing a stabilisation at the moment in terms of the epidemiological picture in the community, on the other hand we are seeing a steadily increasing pressure on the hospital side" with inpatient indicators being particularly elevated.
And that balance of stabilisation, Ms Pana continued, "should not at this stage yet, I think, be disturbed."
She then referred to the ECDC risk assessment report of 27 January which reflected the fact that "we continue to go through a pandemic wave of Omicron, that yes, we now have data showing that the Omicron strain is associated with milder disease in the general population, but that does not mean that because of the massive spread, even later in time we may not see a pressure of severe disease and an increase in severe disease particularly in people aged 60 and over.
So, Ms. Pana continued, "I think we ought to have a discussion on the whole and see what we can simplify, how we can help the people who have suffered so much and together find a harmonization in this framework."
In terms of specific recommendations, she said that "we ought to always discuss it as a group, as an Advisory Committee and actually make our recommendations to the Cabinet."
He also said that we should not disregard the recommendations of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control as "they have the big picture from all member states" and at this stage "the immunisation underpinning of member states and the timing that they are going through in relation to the Omicron outbreak is a little bit different". She explained that at this stage we are seeing a slight divergence in national strategies and a difficulty in harmonising a protocol, so "management is not too easy."
According to Pana, the common thread is "talk of simplification, protocol harmonisation, making things easier for people" and the message is that "we have to adapt and live with coronavirus".
"We should not forget that we are still going through a pandemic wave, we should not forget that we have steadily increasing rates in our hospitals and that this balance that we are achieving by keeping the society open, we should not too abruptly disturb it, because there are still some knowledge gaps as to the tail of the Omicron outbreak," he said.
In response to a related question, Ms. Pana expressed the estimate that the number of infections within the community "will remain relatively elevated for a while."
"Just because we support the vaccination part very much and the booster dose, because also a percentage of people have been immunized and through natural infection, we hope not to see a similar increase in hospitals, which are also trying to keep their own balance, even in the next period," she noted.
As she said, so far we do not have a situation that is extreme.
Asked if the possibility that a fourth dose of vaccine might be needed is also being discussed, Pana said that "for the part of the fourth dose, what we know is that studies are ongoing and knowledge and documentation is being done on whether and when and in whom it might be needed."
"Some discussions abroad are only being held at this stage for people who are immunized. There, however, the fourth dose is not exactly a booster dose" but "it is classified as an additional dose," he said. So there is a differentiation in what we mean when we say to do a fourth dose in the heavily immunocompromised, he said.
He also referred to the separate discussion that mainly concerns seniors with underlying diseases, especially in closed settings such as nursing homes.
As Ms. Pana said, "I think the decision and the evaluation of the data will be discussed by the National Vaccine Committee that we have, and we are, of course, assisting in that whole process of evaluating the existing data." "I don't think for the general population, for all of us, such a question has been raised yet," he concluded.
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