Kiev, August 2, 2020
Photo: spzh.news
Ukraine is expecting a vaccine from the World Health Organization (the WHO), working in partnership with other international organizations, the Union of Orthodox Journalists reported.
During an online COVAX meeting (an organization working with the WHO, the World Bank, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), the Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine, Chief Sanitary Doctor Viktor Lyashko said that the country will receive a vaccine from the WHO in amounts that will cover 20% of the population.
According to Lyashko, the vaccine will be provided at an affordable price or free of charge, which “will reduce the burden on the budget for immunizing other high-risk groups.” He also added that “by participating in the COVAX mechanism, the state will be able to provide access to a licensed, safe, and effective immunological drug, as it becomes available, to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Viktor Lyashko assured that “preparation on the national level in mass vaccination meets world requirements.”
At the same time, according to him, it is still impossible to determine exactly what kind of vaccine it will be: “It is interesting that now leaders are considering vaccines that require two doses (with re-introduction after 3-4 weeks), although there are final stage trails that are single-dose vaccines as well. The methods of administration can be both intramuscular and subdermal injections,” said Viktor Lyashko. It was not said if vaccinations would be entirely optional, and exactly how they would be distributed across the country, which is still engaged in a civil war in the east, although currently a ceasefire is in effect.
