NICOSIA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus on Monday eased more COVID-19 restrictions, and extended its vaccination program to include young people 18 years of age and over, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
As of Monday, people are free to visit outdoor facilities of hospitality venues and other crowd-attracting events without presenting a SafePass, while a night curfew was shortened by one hour, according to the statement.
A SafePass, which denotes one has been vaccinated, recovered, or has a negative COVID-19 test, is still needed to visit shopping malls, theaters, cinemas, conferences and trade exhibitions.
Petros Karayiannis, professor of virology and member of the team of experts advising the government, said the lifting of the restrictions was made possible as infections dropped from a high of over 900 daily cases to below 200.
The Health Ministry said that there was a rush to arrange a vaccination appointment by people aged between 18 and 21, with almost two thirds of nearly 16,000 slots being claimed within the first two hours from the opening of the vaccination portal.
It said over 44 percent of the population had received the first vaccine dose by Sunday, and 15 percent completed their vaccination. The ministry said that it hopes to have well over 60 percent of the population vaccinated by the end of June, when large numbers of tourists are expected to arrive in Cyprus. Enditem