Zelensky told about vaccination plan: with what, when and how Ukrainians will be vaccinated

Author

Yulia Ustymovych

Ukraine will purchase exclusively safe vaccines against coronavirus from global manufacturers. At the same time, the Russian Sputnik V vaccine is not going to be bought.

The country is in talks with a number of vaccine manufacturers, notably Pfizer and AstraZeneca. This was stated by President Volodymyr Zelensky during the Forum "Ukraine 30. Coronavirus: Challenges and Responses".

Vaccination against coronavirus in Ukraine

According to him, Ukraine should receive 1 million vaccines from Pfizer in February. In addition, there are agreements with a Chinese manufacturer, as well as with the UK and the USA. Moreover, the WHO has included Ukraine in the first phase of the coronavirus vaccine supply as part of the COVAX initiative.

Regarding the Russian vaccine, the President said that there is no official confirmation of the claimed effectiveness of 91%.

Zelensky also noted that Ukraine will receive 10 million doses of the vaccine by the summer of 2021.

In addition, Chief Sanitary Doctor Viktor Liashko noted that the country will receive 117,000 doses of vaccine from Pfizer, and then will wait until another vaccine arrives. Further, by the end of February, it is expected from 2.2 million doses of vaccines from AstraZeneca.

In April-May, vaccinations will reach full capacity; 5 million vaccinations are planned to be carried out per month.

Also, the stages of vaccination can start at the same time. And the President will be able to get vaccinated at the second stage of vaccination, that is, the vaccination plan will not have to be changed.

A portal has already been created where it is possible to sign up for vaccination.

Vaccines that may appear in Ukraine

BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine

The vaccine of the German company BioNTech and the American concern Pfizer was the first to be approved by WHO. It was this vaccine that also began to be used in the EU for mass vaccination of the population. Approximately 19 countries are going to vaccinate the population with the BioNTech and Pfizer vaccine.

Moderna vaccine

The Ministry is also in talks with Moderna on getting the coronavirus vaccine. In December 2020, this medication was approved for use in the United States. And on January 6, it was approved by the EU. It is planned to produce approximately 1 billion doses by 2021.

AstraZeneca vaccine

The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed by a Swedish-British pharmaceutical manufacturer in collaboration with the University of Oxford. The vaccine has already been approved for use in the UK, India, and Argentina. The vaccine is going to be produced in India—3 billion doses are planned to be produced in 2021.

Sinovac vaccine

The vaccine from the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech (CoronaVac) is 100% effective in preventing severe cases of COVID-19, almost 78% effective in preventing mild cases, and has an overall effectiveness of 50.4%.

It is the Sinovac vaccine that the Ukrainian company Lekhim produces. It received a quota for 5 million doses of vaccine from a Chinese company in order to sell them in Ukraine in the first half of 2021, of which the Ministry of Health wants to purchase 1.9 million doses.