Radutskyi in the Rada spoke about the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Photo: UNIAN
Mykhailo Radutskyi, the Head of the Committee on Public Health, explained on the sidelines of the Verkhovna Rada what would be the procedure for Ukrainians to get the third dose of the coronavirus vaccine:
"First of all, it is necessary to protect the most vulnerable groups of the population with the third dose of the vaccine: these are people with immunodeficiency, people with cancer, and people over 60 years old. Everything is exactly the same as when we started vaccination: all take turns. First, the more vulnerable ones, then less vulnerable ones, and then everybody else."
When asked what drug can be used to make the third dose, Radutskyi replied that, according to the WHO, if two doses were made with CoronaVac, the third can be made with Pfizer or Moderna: "Because these are synthetic vaccines and they can be combined."
The MP specifically noted that as soon as the third dose was received, the Diia application would pull in the certificate indicating that a person has three doses of the vaccine.
Ukrainians from risk groups can get the third dose of the vaccine now. To do this you need to contact your family doctor or the vaccination centres. It is not yet known when the turn of all other segments of the population will come.
It should be clarified that the concepts of the "third" and "booster" vaccine dose are not identical. The third dose is given to at-risk groups to increase protection against infection. And the booster dose (revaccination) is carried out 6 months after the first two doses of the vaccine.
Context: The third dose of CoronaVac from the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech against COVID-19 increases the activity of antibodies against the Delta strain.