MP Radutsky: COVID-19 vaccination in Ukraine to start after Feb 7

Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Medical Assistance and Health Insurance Mykhailo Radutsky says vaccination against COVID-19 in Ukraine is to start during the second week of February 2021.

The Servant of the People Party announced this on Facebook.

Read alsoUkraine to create COVID-19 vaccination register, issue immunity e-passports

"Ukraine must vaccinate at least 20 million people. According to [Health] Minister Maksym Stepanov, the vaccination will begin during the second week of February," he said.

At the moment, Ukraine has an agreement on 8 million doses of a vaccine via the COVAX Facility.

Also, President Volodymyr Zelensky set a task for the diplomatic corps and the government to increase this quota from 8 million to 16 million doses.

In addition, the president asked the EU countries to allocate additional doses of the vaccine.

"To date, the Health Ministry has contracted 1.9 million doses of Chinese-made Sinovac, but we expect the manufacturer to prove its effectiveness as Ukrainian legislation says we cannot buy a vaccine whose proven effectiveness is below 70%. The supplier has provided bank guarantees, and if its effectiveness is not proven, the vaccine will not be procured and the money will be returned to the budget of Ukraine. The same supplier promises to ship about 5 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine on a commercial basis," he said.

He says he hopes that the Health Ministry will fulfill its task of providing at least 50% of the population with a vaccine against COVID-19 free of charge.

COVID-19 vaccine for Ukraine

• In February-March 2021, Ukraine expects the delivery of a vaccine against COVID-19.
• The first batch of a vaccine via the COVAX Facility will include 8 million doses, which will be enough to vaccinate 4 million people (two shots per person required). First to get vaccinated will be healthcare workers, the elderly, and seriously ill patients.
• On December 24, 2020, Health Minister Stepanov said that his ministry was working out a plan to increase the COVAX vaccine quota from 8 million to 16 million doses.
• On December 30, Ukraine signed a contract with China's Sinovac for the supply of 1.9 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
• On January 8, 2020, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Ghebreyesus said that rich countries have the majority of the supply of a COVID-19 vaccine from the manufacturers Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.
• On January 13, Health Minister Stepanov said that his ministry planned to sign contracts in the coming days with new companies that produce the coronavirus vaccine.
• According to the WHO, 170 experimental vaccines are currently at the stage of preclinical trials, 65 are undergoing clinical trials, of which 15 are at the third, last stage.