Ukrainians to get second dose of Covishield vaccine despite India export halt

Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister and Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko has said Ukrainians will get the second dose of the Covishield vaccine for COVID-19 despite the latest suspension of supplies from India.

"The AstraZeneca vaccine produced at Indian, Korean or European sites is the same product, but with different names. This vaccine is interchangeable. That is why it makes no difference how they are combined: which one is administered as the first dose, which one goes second, or whether people are vaccinated with the same one. Non-interchangeable vaccines would be, say, Pfizer and Covishield, or Sinovac and AstraZeneca," he said at a morning TV show Snidanok z 1+1 on Tuesday.

Read alsoHealth minister predicts new surge in COVID-19 cases in 3-4 weeksAccording to Liashko, the second batch of the vaccines "is likely to be delivered." Ukraine has contracted two million doses of Covishield, but received only 500,000. The Health Ministry expects the supplies will resume during April-May.

Background

• In March, India put a temporary hold on all major exports of the AstraZeneca coronavirus shot made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine-maker, to meet domestic demand as infections rise.
• In total, 462,791 people have received their first shot of the vaccine since the launch of a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ukraine. The shots were mainly administered with the use of the Covishield vaccine.