UK Ambassador: Covishield and Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines identical

British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons has said the Covishield and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines against COVID-19 are identical.

"Vaccines: a fact-check. Covishield & Oxford-AstraZeneca AZD1222 COVID-19 vaccines are one and the same. Covishield is the name licenced for AZD1222 manufactured in India," she wrote on Twitter on March 3, 2021.

According to Simmons, "any suggestion that the AZ/Covishield vaccines being used in Ukraine differ in formula is categorically incorrect."

Read alsoAlmost 6,900 Ukrainians vaccinated against COVID-19 since launch of campaignVaccination in Ukraine

• On February 22, 2021, the Ukrainian Health Ministry registered the Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
• The vaccine was developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use has been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and authorized by the UK, the European Union, and India.
• On February 23, 2021, the first batch of the Covishield vaccine arrived in Ukraine.
• On February 24, 2021, Ukraine launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign. About 160 healthcare workers were first who got vaccinated.
• On March 1, 2021, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov had had his COVID-19 vaccine shot, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was vaccinated against COVID-19 during a trip to the Donbas warzone on March 2.