COVID-19 vaccination in Ukraine to start in mid-February – Health minister

Vaccination against the COVID-19 coronavirus disease is to start in Ukraine in the middle of February 2021.

This was announced by Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov at a meeting with members of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction, according to MP Andriy Gerus.

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Stepanov said that Ukraine would have 910,000 doses of vaccines, including 210,000 doses of Pfizer's vaccine via the COVAX Facility, a global risk-sharing mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of eventual COVID-19 vaccines, Gerus said on Telegram on January 17.

At the first stage, 367,000 Ukrainians are to be vaccinated, among them are healthcare workers, elderly people in specialized institutions, military personnel in the Joint Forces Operation zone in Donbas. The second stage is scheduled for the end of March and the vaccination will involve 2.5 million Ukrainians.

According to Stepanov, the government is currently negotiating vaccine supplies with four manufacturers.

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.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 170 experimental vaccines are currently at the stage of preclinical trials, 65 are undergoing clinical trials, of which 15 are the third, last stage.