The introduction of strict quarantine in Ukraine will depend on the rate and coverage of vaccinations, said Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Ihor Kuzin.
“Now we use adaptive quarantine, which works according to fixed indicators. We have a general condition: if in two or more regions for a certain time, two or more indicators are exceeded, then Ukraine will move to the next epidemic level – that is, ‘yellow,’ ‘orange’ or even ‘red.’ Therefore, it all depends on how quickly the vaccination of risk groups and the bulk of the population will be completed, and how many cases will be registered,” he said in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda ezine.
Kuzin added that so far there are no signs of an outbreak in Ukraine, and most regions are at the plateau level. However, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions show a threatening trend, where it is necessary to strengthen the system for identifying and isolating contact persons.
At the same time, Kuzin stressed that after the completion of testing of internal COVID-certificates, the Ministry of Health will work on the introduction of certain “privileges” for vaccinated people.
“The main idea that was used in other states, and which Ukraine is most likely to use, is the maximum use of the internal digital certificates. It should become a conditional pass. Now internal certificates are only being tested, while there is no information on how it will work at one or another level of epidemic danger. We will be thinking it over after testing is complete. It will be a QR code that will show that a person is vaccinated or ill, has a negative PCR or antigen test,” the deputy minister said.
Kuzin added that with the introduction of such certificates, it is necessary to “maintain a balance between human rights”, because a certain part of Ukrainians cannot receive a vaccine due to medical contraindications.
The deputy minister stressed that the mask regime in Ukraine would not be canceled yet. This issue will only be considered when the majority of the population is vaccinated and there is no risk of transmitting the infection.
