The vaccine produced by AstraZeneca may be delivered to Ukraine next week, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Viktor Liashko said.
“We are waiting for the Pfizer vaccine. Perhaps the first will be the AstraZeneca vaccine. We will receive two products next week. There are questions about the Pfizer vaccine, which we receive as part of the COVAX initiative, which is supplied to Ukraine for free,” Liashko said on the air of the Right to Power (Pravo na Vladu) program on 1+1 TV channel on Thursday night.
He noted that bureaucratic processes are currently underway.
Liashko said that vaccines would be used in Ukraine after their registration.
According to the Chief State Sanitary Doctor, Ukraine has agreed on a contract for the supply of 12 million doses of vaccines produced by AstraZeneca and Novavax. The drugs will be shipped from India, where they are manufactured at the facilities of the Serum Institute.
Also, through the COVAX mechanism, Ukraine should receive from 2.2 million to 3.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the first half of the year.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Greek President Katerina Sakellaropula for agreeing to assist in obtaining vaccine against COVID-19 and invited her to the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence
“I wish health to the Greek people. Grateful to President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou for helping obtain more COVID-19 vaccine. I invite you to the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. Glad to facilitate the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Greek revolution where our Odesa played an important role,” he wrote on his Twitter page.
The pharmaceutical company Pfizer will soon provide documents for registration of a vaccine against coronavirus (COVID-19) disease in Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Health, Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Viktor Liashko said during a press briefing in Kyiv on Friday.
“Yesterday we had a telephone conversation with Pfizer headquarters. We were assured that all documents for vaccine registration in Ukraine will be submitted in the near future. The vaccine will be used only after registration,” he said.
Liashko recalled that vaccination in Ukraine would be free and voluntary.
“Vaccinations will be carried out by mobile teams, consisting of two nurses, a doctor, a registrar and a driver. They will provide organized professional teams [medical institutions, social institutions, and military units] with vaccinations at the first stage […] From February 5, we start medical trainings for doctors and regional coordinators to ensure logistical and coordination cooperation between the national, regional and vaccination rooms,” the deputy minister said.
At the same time, he said that the country had the necessary capacities for storing vaccines.
“We have capacities for storing vaccines with a temperature regime of minus 80 degrees Celsius and a temperature regime of plus 2 degrees Celsius. As for the latter, the state-owned enterprise Ukrvaktsyna can store about 30 million doses of vaccines. There are 25 warehouses at the regional level where it is possible to store the three-month need for vaccine. In addition, there are 490 district storage points and refrigeration equipment at vaccination points. We will closely monitor that the cold chain is observed,” Liashko said.
“At the same time, we have submitted an application to the European Investment Bank and we want to update all the refrigeration equipment in the vaccination rooms – even the one used for routine immunization,” he said.
Liashko said that citizens of Ukraine who are in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea will also be provided with access to free and voluntary vaccination at vaccination points, which will be located in the territory controlled by Ukraine.
COVID-19 vaccines will begin to arrive in Ukraine under the COVAX mechanism in February this year, head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas said.
“We reacted quickly and provided EUR 190 million in aid and 1.2 billion in macro-financial support – an unprecedented amount for a crisis year. Today, the issue of vaccination against the virus has come to the fore. Vaccines under the EU-supported COVAX program will begin to arrive in February,” he said at a meeting of the Commission on coordination of implementation of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
“Ukraine and other neighboring countries are a priority for the EU,” Maasikas said.
As reported, within the framework of the COVAX program, Ukraine will receive 117,000 doses of American-made Pfizer-BioNTech m-RNA vaccine in February, and in parallel, during the first half of 2021, from 2.2 to 3.7 million doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal says that Ukraine is currently signing or has already signed contracts for more than 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
“There will be enough vaccines for everyone this year. Today, we have contracts for more than 30 million vaccines that have actually been signed and are being signed,” Shmyhal said on the air of ICTV channel on Monday evening, January 25.
The prime minister also said that all the queues according to the national vaccination plan will be observed, and the vaccination itself will start in February.
“In the near future, Ukraine will receive one million doses of vaccine. Until the end of January, we expect the amount of COVAX vaccine […] there will be the first delivery of COVAX vaccine in the amount of 200,000 doses or more, in order to start emergency immediate vaccination,” Shmyhal said.
The World Bank will provide Ukraine with about UAH 2.5 billion to purchase a vaccine against coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, Deputy Health Minister Svitlana Shatalova said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.
“Ukraine will receive funds for the purchase of vaccines against COVID-19. Such assistance is provided by the World Bank. About UAH 2.5 billion is planned to be allocated for the new Ukraine Emergency COVID-19 Response and Vaccination Project,” she said.
“Relevant negotiations are being held between the Board of Directors of the World Bank and the government of Ukraine since December 2020. As part of the preparation of the project, the implemented vaccination strategy will be taken into account,” Shatalova said.
