President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree that orders the development of a national plan for vaccination of most adults against COVID-19 by the end of 2021. According to the president’s press service, the government must develop and approve such a plan within one week.
The order, which implements a National Security and Defense Council decision on April 2, came as a surprise as Ukraine started vaccination a little over a month ago, on Feb. 24, under an approved plan split into nine stages. According to the plan, Ukraine was supposed to have medical workers, military troops, the staff of state security agencies and schools, and Ukrainians over 60 inoculated by the end of 2021.
A little more than a month into the immunization campaign, only 290,566 people have received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Only two Ukrainians have received the second dose so far.
The vaccination campaign has been struggling to pick up pace due to difficult logistics and disinformation-fueled distrust. According to Bloomberg, at this pace, it might take Ukraine 10 years to get 75% of its population vaccinated.
The number of daily COVID-19 vaccinations in Ukraine since the vaccination campaign started on Feb. 24. All data was released by the Ministry of Health.
According to the security and defense council’s decision, the future vaccination plan must include a minimum required monthly number of vaccinations, determining the sources of vaccine supply and specifying the persons responsible for implementing the plan. Its ultimate goal is to vaccinate the majority of adults in Ukraine no later than December 2021 in order to reach herd immunity.
Ukraine is expecting 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India. However, the delivery is at risk, since India temporarily halted its exports because of the country’s own demand for vaccines.
The Ukrainian government has received 215,000 doses of the Chinese-made vaccine CoronaVac but it has not started to implement them as it needs to be approved by the Ukrainian government and the World Health Organization.
The decree orders the government to activate negotiations with international vaccine producers. The health ministry must take immediate measures to supply the required number of vaccines to Ukraine as soon as possible, as well as provide an effective educational campaign on vaccination. The foreign affairs ministry must assist in Ukraine’s cooperation with other countries and international organizations.
Read also: Everything to know about current state of vaccination campaign in Ukraine
Ukraine is currently experiencing its third and worst coronavirus wave with record-breaking daily numbers of new cases and death and most hospitals at over 70% capacity. Ten out of its 24 regions are currently under lockdown.
