Ukraine will receive a part of the vaccines from the United States through the COVAX program, which will be transferred as part of the U.S. plans to purchase and transport 500 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine press service said. “About a month ago President [Joe] Biden announced that he will purchase another 500 million additional doses of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to contribute to Covax, which is the facility that is sharing these vaccines around the world, including with Ukraine,” the embassy said in the statement.
As noted, the USAID agency located in Ukraine will set up distribution networks and “cold chain” networks that allow the vaccine to be fully ready to go.
“The United States is the largest global contributor to the Covax Facility. We have given over $4 billion to that facility to help distribute vaccines around the world,” the embassy’s press office said.
At the same time, the U.S. government plans to continue to cooperate with Ukraine and other countries to reduce the level of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease in the world.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba held a telephone conversation with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at the initiative of the French side.
“Dmytro Kuleba separately touched upon the issue of France’s recognition of Ukrainian certificates of vaccination against COVID-19. The parties agreed that the corresponding Ukrainian-French consultations will soon take place,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
The ministers noted the unprecedentedly high level that bilateral relations between Ukraine and France have now reached. The French minister expressed satisfaction with the close dialogue he had with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Le Drian expressed his gratitude to Kuleba for his personal assistance in the quick and well-coordinated relocation of the French Embassy in Ukraine to the new premises.
“The ministers welcomed the active development of economic cooperation, in particular the conclusion of four strategic intergovernmental agreements totaling more than EUR 1.3 billion. The parties positively noted a recent visit of a plenipotentiary delegation of the Movement of the Enterprises of France [MEDEF] to Ukraine, which included top leaders of a number of French companies,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.
The parties also discussed the prospects for the Normandy format at all levels: heads of state and government, foreign ministers, and advisers to leaders.
“Kuleba noted that Ukraine highly appreciates the efforts of France in the framework of the Normandy format, which despite the provocative behavior of Russia, remains the main platform for the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict,” the ministry said.
In addition, Le Drian explained in detail to Kuleba the motives behind a recent German-French initiative to restore the EU’s dialogue with the Russian Federation, which did not find support among the EU member states.
“The French minister stressed that Paris is in favor of a demanding dialogue towards Moscow. The head of Ukrainian diplomacy recalled that the EU suspended summits with Russia in 2014 as a result of Russia’s aggression against our state, and without constructive steps from the Russian side, there are no grounds to talk about the restoration of this format of a dialogue,” the report said.
Over the past day, June 29, some 81,637 people were vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease in Ukraine, while 21,475 Ukrainians received the first dose of the vaccine, and 60,162 received the second, the press service of the Ministry of Health reports. “Some 81,637 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 per day on June 29, 2021. Some 21,475 people received the first dose, and 60,162 people were fully immunized. Some 518 mobile teams, 1,336 vaccination points, and two vaccination centers worked during the day,” the ministry said on Telegram.
It is noted that as of June 29, 2021, some 756,424 people were on the waiting list for vaccination against COVID-19.
“Since the beginning of the vaccination campaign, 1.934 million people have been vaccinated, of which 1.933.944 received the first dose, and 649,524 people were fully immunized and received two doses [two of them received the first dose abroad]. A total of 2.583 million vaccinations were carried out,” the Ministry of Health said.
The Center for Mass Vaccination of the Population against Coronavirus, which was created on the basis of the International Exhibition Center in Kyiv (IEC), will work for four days this week, the press service of Kyiv City State Administration reports.
“This week, the COVID-19 Vaccination Center, based at the International Exhibition Center, will be open on Thursday and Friday, and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 17:30,” the message reads.
It is noted that one can sign up for vaccinations using the Diia application and the Helsi.me portal.
Kyiv City State Administration adds that now the city continues to vaccinate teachers, medical and social workers, participants in the environmental protection organization, as well as people 65 years of age and older.
The vaccination boosted tourism and began returning travelers to historic cities, Fabrizio Orlando, Global Industry Relations Associate Director at Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel website, said.
“As expected, vaccination has become a factor in the activation of tourism both domestically and internationally. Some 48% of those surveyed by us in May 2021 reported that they began to plan a trip precisely after receiving the first dose of the vaccine,” he said at the IV International Hospitality Conference, which took place in Parkovy Congress and Exhibition Center on June 18.
According to a Tripadvisor study, 80% of those surveyed confirmed that vaccination was a factor in the decision to travel throughout the country, and 91% – across the world. Among Tripadvisor users, the vaccinated were more active in planning and booking international travel (34% and 21%) than the unvaccinated (25% and 5%, respectively).
Regarding domestic tourism, unvaccinated people are more actively interested in such locations (51% versus 47% of requests from vaccinated people), but at the same time they book less (19% versus 32%).
Preferences are also badly different, in particular, vaccinated travelers are more bold about places with a mass congestion.
At the same time, unvaccinated travelers in the summer of 2021 choose first of all beach vacations (28% of requests), then outdoor activities (25%), urban tourism only in third place (24%).
According to the study, vaccinated people miss the cities – 32% of requests are related to tours to historic cities. Beach recreation takes second place (26%), while outdoor activities gained 20%.
According to Tripadvisor, the most active among those choosing international destinations are tourists from countries with a large proportion of the vaccinated population: Germany, France, and the U.S. “The undisputed leader is Germany, where two-thirds plan to travel to other countries,” Orlando said.
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel website with 43 markets and 22 languages. TripAdvisor is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts, USA. Subsidiaries and affiliates of Tripadvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) own and operate a portfolio of online travel brands and companies operating across a variety of websites and apps including TripAdvisor, Airfarewatchdog, BookingBuddy, Cruise Critic, Family Vacation Critic, FlipKey, GateGuru, Holiday Lettings, Holiday Watchdog, Independent Traveler, Jetsetter, lafourchette, Niumba, OneTime, SeatGuru, SmarterTravel, Tingo, Travel Library, TravelPod, Viator, and VirtualTourist.
HISTORIC CITIES, TOURISM, TRAVELERS, TRIPADVISOR, VACCINATION
Over the past day, June 17, some 81,713 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus infection in Ukraine, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine reports on the Telegram channel.
Some 57,970 people received one dose, 23,743 people were fully immunized.
During the day, 618 mobile teams and 964 vaccination stations worked.
Since the beginning of the vaccination campaign, 1,652,055 people have been vaccinated, of which 1,652,053 people received one dose, 337,345 people were fully immunized and received two doses (two of them received one dose abroad). A total of 1,989,398 inoculations were carried out.
