Ukraine offers Donbas, Crimea residents free COVID-19 vaccination – health ministry

Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister, Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko says Ukrainian citizens residing in Russia-occupied parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and Crimea will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Ukraine for free.

Speaking during an online briefing on Friday, he said they would be vaccinated at vaccination points located in Ukrainian-controlled territory and the vaccination will be conducted on a voluntary basis, an UNIAN correspondent reported.

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• 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.
• First to get vaccinated will be healthcare workers, the elderly, and seriously ill patients.
• 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.
• On January 29, the National Commission for technology-related and environmental safety and emergencies approved a schedule for vaccination against the coronavirus in Ukraine in 2021.

***COVAX is a global initiative created by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) to accelerate the development, production, and equal access to tests, treatment and vaccines against COVID-19.

Ukraine joined the COVAX initiative under the GAVI Advance Market Commitment for COVID-19 Vaccines. The first part of the application to GAVI was submitted on December 7, 2020, and was verified on December 11. Thanks to this, Ukraine will be able to receive at least 8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for 4 million Ukrainians.