REUTERS
They will be used to inoculate residents and staff of nursing homes.
Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has said Ukraine will receive the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine via the COVAX facility as early as next week.
He made the comment during the Pravo na Vladu ("Right to Power") talk show on April 8.
The minister specified that Ukraine is expected to receive 117,000 doses of the said vaccine to inoculate residents and staff of nursing homes.
"The first 117,000 doses [of the Pfizer vaccines], within the COVAX initiative, will be supplied, tentatively, on April 14-15, according to the latest reports. They will be allocated to specialized nursing homes for the elderly residents and staff," he said.
Stepanov assured that in May, Ukraine will receive doses of the Pfizer jab, the delivery of which has been agreed with the company by the authorities.
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The Ministry of Health has certified vaccines produced by Pfizer (USA), CoviShield by Oxford/AstraZeneca, and CoronaVac produced China's Sinovac Biotech.
On February 24, an inoculation campaign was launched in Ukraine with the CoviShield (AstraZeneca) vaccine, produced under license by India's Serum Institute.
On March 25, the first batch of Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccines in the amount of 215,000 doses arrived in Ukraine. The vaccine must undergo lab control that will last 10 days, after which a state company will deliver across regions.
The Ministry of Health also announced that by late March or early April, within the framework of the COVAX facility, Ukraine will have received a batch of 570,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and by the end of May – another 1.1-1.2 million vaccines produced by the company. In addition, Ukraine will also receive Pfizer vaccines.
The supply is also expected of the contracted vaccine by the American company Novavax in the amount of 10 million doses, as well as an Indian drug by Bharat Biotech.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine had signed preliminary agreements on the supply of coronavirus vaccines with six global manufacturers.
On April 6, Ukraine sealed an agreement with the American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer for the supply of 10 million doses of their vaccine for COVID-19.