In the western Ukrainian town of Morshyn, there’s not much COVID-19 vaccine skepticism.
According to the local officials, about 74% of the town’s adult residents are fully vaccinated. This is above the threshold that many scientists say is needed to establish herd immunity.
It’s a far cry from the rest of Ukraine, where less than a quarter of the general population is vaccinated and over half the population doesn’t want the shot, according to a September poll.
That’s because in April, Morshyn, a resort town in Lviv Oblast, some 622 kilometers southwest of Kyiv, was selected for an experiment and a large majority of its adult residents were fully vaccinated. At the time, only people from priority groups were being inoculated in the rest of the country.
The trial has paid off. While the virus hasn’t been completely stamped out from Morshyn, the town has not seen any deaths or hospitalizations from COVID-19 during the latest wave, which began this fall.
Meanwhile, the rest of Ukraine is enduring its deadliest surge of the disease to date. On Oct. 26, the country hit a new daily fatality record, with 734 deaths. Thousands are being admitted to hospitals each day. Regions are moving into the red quarantine zone one by one.
Oksana Barysh, director at the Morshyn hospital, is relieved that most people in her town are vaccinated.
“A year ago, during the previous coronavirus outbreak, there was panic because many patients were in quite serious conditions. Now the disease is mild for those vaccinated. For others, it’s not that easy,” Barysh told the Kyiv Post.
Only 22 out of the town’s 3,439 residents currently have COVID-19; eight of them are vaccinated.
Morshyn Mayor Ruslan Ilnytsky said that before starting the mass inoculation in April, authorities conducted opinion polls to discover people’s concerns and then launched an information campaign, debunking myths and explaining the benefits of vaccination.
“Some family physicians agreed to ring up their patients to invite them to get a shot,” Ilnytsky told the Kyiv Post. “Morshyn is a small town, so people knew firsthand from friends and neighbors that vaccination doesn’t lead to negative consequences.”
Ilnytsky thinks that business owners also played a crucial role in promoting vaccination in town.
According to the mayor, during the first month, more than 60% of the residents received the Chinese-made vaccine CoronaVac. However, some people wanted to get the Pfizer vaccine, so they waited until it was available in July.
Vaccination rate
Many epidemiologists agree that vaccination is the only effective long-term strategy against COVID-19.
Ukraine’s vaccination rate remains among the lowest in Europe. As of Oct. 26, over 9.1 million people have received the first of two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine; 7.1 million Ukrainians are fully vaccinated out of a population of 42 million.
In opinion polls, many Ukrainians said they don’t trust the vaccines, believing they had not been sufficiently tested. The country has seen multiple misinformation campaigns discouraging people from getting the jab.
All adults, including foreigners with a residence permit, can get vaccinated in Ukraine for free. They can get a shot at their local clinics or one of more than 400 mass vaccination centers throughout the country.
Kyiv has 36 such centers including the one in Kyiv Boryspil International Airport. The full list is available here.
Mortality peak
Doctors warn that the peak of the latest wave has not yet passed and the worst is yet to come, urging people to get vaccinated. Quarantine restrictions only work as a short-term measure to help drive cases down, experts say.
In the past week, new daily cases have exceeded 20,000 and eight regions have moved into the red quarantine zone.
All non-essential businesses must be closed in red zones, including shopping malls, restaurants, cinemas and gyms. Only grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations must remain open. Businesses can get around these restrictions if all of their staff and visitors have proof of being fully vaccinated.
According to Kyiv School of Economics expert Yuriy Hanychenko, Ukraine may see 30,000 new cases per day by the end of the year. He expects the peak to arrive in early November.
