Health Minister: 100% of Ukrainians could have access to COVID-19 vaccine by end of 2021

Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov says 100% of Ukrainians could have access to a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021.

He announced this during the Freedom of Speech TV program.

"We want to ensure that 100% of the population have access to a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2021," he said.

He recalled his ministry had developed a roadmap, the National Vaccination Plan, which defines all stages of vaccination against the coronavirus.

At the first stage, 367,000 people are expected to get vaccinated. According to Stepanov, the vaccination campaign should begin in Ukraine on February 15.

"Theoretically, it could be February 16. After February 15 – this does not mean March 1," he said.

According to the minister, Ukraine is now awaiting the delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine (about 1 million doses) and that of Pfizer/BioNTech (117,000 doses).

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COVID-19 vaccine for Ukraine

• Ukraine plans to launch a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the middle of February 2021.
• On December 30, 2020, Ukraine signed a contract for the supply of 1.9 million doses of China's Sinovac vaccine.
• On January 30, 2021, Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister, Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko said Ukraine would receive 117,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine within the COVAX (the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility) in February.
• From the middle of February to the end of June 2021, Ukraine will obtain 2.2 million to 3.7 million doses of an AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine.
• On February 5, Health Minister Stepanov said shipments of 12 million doses of vaccines produced by AstraZeneca and Novavax to Ukraine had been confirmed.
• In December 2020, the Health Ministry's coronavirus task force approved a COVID-19 immunization plan under which at least 50% of Ukrainians (20 million people) are to be vaccinated during 2021-2022.
• First to get vaccinated will be healthcare workers, the elderly, and seriously ill patients.