All adults in Ukraine to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by late 2021 – health minister

Photo from UNIAN

Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has said all citizens of Ukraine aged 18 and older will vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of 2021.

"By the end of 2021, we will complete the vaccination of all citizens of Ukraine aged 18 and older, without exception. Because we do not vaccinate children," he said during a Q&A hour at the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, on March 5, an UNIAN correspondent reported.

Answering a question regarding the deadline for the vaccination, Stepanov reiterated there were five stages of the campaign.

The minister also assured all Ukrainians would be vaccinated with safe vaccines with proven efficacy.

Read alsoAlmost 12,500 Ukrainians vaccinated against COVID-19 since launch of campaignVaccination in Ukraine

• On February 24, 2021, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. An emergency room doctor in Cherkasy region was the first who got vaccinated.
• Ukraine uses the Covishield vaccine, which was developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. It is produced in India under a licensing agreement.
• Ukraine has received 500,000 doses of the vaccine so far.
• The vaccination campaign in Ukraine was originally expected to start with the use of a vaccine produced by Pfizer/BioNTech, which Ukraine was supposed to receive during the first wave of distribution under the global COVAX Facility. The supply of 117,000 doses of that vaccine to Ukraine has been booked.
• The vaccination campaign will have five stages.
• The first group to get vaccinated will be healthcare workers who contact COVID-19 patients in hospitals and the Joint Forces Operation zone in Donbas (367,000 people). They will be vaccinated February through April.
• The second group will include other healthcare workers, social employees, and retirees who are 80 and older (about 3 million people all together). They will be vaccinated in April through June.
• The third group are seniors who are 65-79, as well as security and education workers (about 7 million people, June through October).
• The fourth group will be citizens who are 60+, patients with chronic diseases, people working and serving terms in prisons (about 11 million people, October and November).
• Stage five covers the rest of the adult population of Ukraine (about 13 million people, November and December).