One month in, Ukraine’s vaccination campaign is still struggling to pick up the pace.
Ukraine has vaccinated only 155,586 people as of March 25 and only one person has received the required two doses. On some days, Poland administers more shots than Ukraine did in a month. At this pace, Ukraine will take years to vaccinate its population.
Difficult logistics and disinformation-fueled distrust slow down the pace of immunization in Ukraine.
Supplying vaccines is proving problematic, too.
Ukraine received a fresh supply of 215,000 doses of Sinovac, a Chinese-made vaccine, on March 25. But Ukraine’s anticipated delivery of 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine from India is at risk: India said it will be stopping exports until the local producer satisfies the country’s own demand for vaccines.
But there are good news, too.
On March 22, Ukraine moved into the second stage of the COVID‑19 vaccination campaign. This marks an important change that can speed up the vaccination drive.
Who got vaccinated in the first wave?
Ukraine started vaccinating its citizens on Feb. 24. Since then, the mobile brigades have given jabs to 121,024 out of 367,000 people in the first high-priority group that includes doctors who treat COVID‑19 patients and soldiers on the Donbas frontline.
But they weren’t the only ones who got the vaccine. To popularize vaccination, the government allowed the use of leftover doses to vaccinate opinion leaders, celebrities, bloggers and journalists.
The first stage of vaccination continues as the second one begins.
Who will be getting vaccine now?
Family doctors, other medical workers, social workers and people over 80 years old will be vaccinated in the second wave.
Importantly, this also means that vaccination points will be established in regular hospitals. Previously, vaccination took place in COVID‑19 hospitals, which meant that inviting people to be vaccinated with leftover doses exposed them to infection.
The plan is to start with 565 vaccination points around the country, apart from mobile brigades. The number of vaccination points will increase to 2,500 when the new doses arrive.
What is the order of vaccination?
The plan for vaccination was rolled out in January.
First stage, February-April — doctors at COVID‑19 wards and troops on the front lines of the war in eastern Ukraine;
Second stage, April-May — primary health care staff and Ukrainians ages 80 and older (1.9 million);
Third stage, May-June — the remaining medical staff;
Fourth stage, June-July — Ukrainians ages 70–79;
Fifth stage, July-August — the staff of state security agencies;
Sixth stage, August-September — Ukrainians ages 65–69;
Seventh stage, September-October — the staff of schools and other education facilities;
Eighth stage, October-November — Ukrainians ages 60–64;
Ninth stage, November-December — other unspecified categories.
The government planned to vaccinate 367,000 people within the first wave. So far, less than half of that number received first doses.
Can foreigners be vaccinated in Ukraine?
So far, no. Only Ukrainian citizens are officially eligible for the vaccines distributed for free by the government.
The vaccine isn’t commercially available in Ukraine yet. The only company known to have ordered COVID‑19 vaccine for commercial distribution said it expects to receive it in spring.
What are leftover doses?
The vaccine Ukraine currently uses comes in 10-dose packages. After one is opened, the vaccines in it can be used within six hours. If, for example, 62 people are vaccinated, it means that seven packages were opened, and the vaccination point has eight leftover doses.
When those doses aren’t used, they expire and get utilized. As of mid-March, Ukraine lost over 200 doses this way.
Does Ukraine have enough vaccines?
No, not nearly so.
So far, Ukraine received two batches of vaccines: 500,000 doses of Covieshield/AstraZeneca, produced by India’s Serum Institute, in February, and 215,000 doses of Sinovac from China in March.
The country will also receive at least 8 million doses from COVAX, the global coronavirus vaccine alliance. The first delivery from COVAX is expected at the end of March or in early April. It will include 570,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 117,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech.
Altogether, the government said that Ukraine booked 30 million doses of vaccine. It will be enough to vaccinate 15 million people.
Ukraine has 42 million people. The government plans to offer a vaccine to at least 21 million people by the end of the year.
Why did Ukraine increase the interval between two doses?
Three weeks after the vaccination campaign started in Ukraine, the country changed its protocol: The second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine now has to be administered 90 days after the first dose. Before, it was 28 days.
The protocol was changed based on the latest international studies that showed that a 90-day interval yields more effectiveness.
Only one Ukrainian was vaccinated with both doses, right before the protocol was changed.
Those who get one dose don’t develop immunity for COVID‑19. Viktor Lyashko, Ukraine’s chief sanitary doctor and deputy health minister, was diagnosed with coronavirus days after being vaccinated.
The government said on March 25 that those who were vaccinated with AstraZeneca vaccine can get a different vaccine as their second dose.
Why do so many Ukrainians turn down the vaccine?
Vaccination is voluntary in Ukraine. There are no publicly available statistics on how many Ukrainians from high-priority groups turned down the vaccine, but anecdotal evidence and the slow pace of vaccination suggest that many do.
Several recent polls showed that about half of Ukrainians don’t want to get vaccinated against COVID‑19. Many of them distrust vaccines in general or this one in particular. Some refuse because they’ve already had COVID‑19.
Disinformation also fuels suspicion. Social media is filled with unverified reports about side effects and even deaths caused by the vaccine.
A new poll by Rating Group, published on March 25, revealed the depth of Ukrainians’ vulnerability to conspiracy theories: Over 70% of respondents believe that COVID‑19 was made artificially and released on purpose. Out of them, 40% think it was done to reduce the world’s population.
Politicians tune in. Ex-President Petro Poroshenko was the most high-profile politician to try to discredit the vaccination campaign. During a televised meeting in parliament, he said that doctors turn down the vaccine en masse because the AstraZeneca/Covishield vaccine that Ukraine uses is “shit.”
