The head of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Maksym Stepanov, urged not to relax after overcoming the third wave of the coronavirus, as the threat of the fourth wave remains. He said this on Tuesday, May 11.
"Another battle with COVID. We predict that we may have a fourth wave of the coronavirus. We must do everything so that this blow is not severe," he said.
He announced the passing of the third wave on May 7. At the moment, no region of Ukraine is included in the red quarantine zone.
At the same time, Stepanov emphasized that by the end of the year, Ukraine will receive 42 million doses of the vaccine against the coronavirus, in particular, 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
"We managed to double the supply of the vaccine produced by the Pfizer BionTech company already this calendar year. Instead of 10 million doses, we will receive 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine," he noted.
The minister added that, in general, Ukraine should receive 42 million doses of vaccine in 2021, they are already contracted.
These are 8 million doses from the COVAX initiative and 32 million doses of vaccines under direct contracts between Ukraine and vaccine manufacturers.
In particular, Ukraine should receive 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 10 million doses of the NovaVax vaccine - this is a new vaccine of an American company that is undergoing registration and will be produced in India. Ukraine also receives AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines (under the name CoronaVac).
According to Stepanov, 42 million doses are enough to vaccinate the majority of the adult population, but the Ministry of Health wants to increase this figure to 48 million doses to vaccinate 70% of adults.
