08 February 2021, Monday, 18:32 107

Ukraine Will Be Included In 1st Wave Of Vaccine Distribution Under COVAX Initiative - WHO Director General Ghebreyesus

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus states Ukraine will be included in the first wave of vaccine distribution under the COVAX initiative.

He announced this during the Ukraine 30. Coronavirus: Challenges and Answers all-Ukrainian forum, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

“Last week, COVAX published its forecast for the distribution of vaccines for the countries participating in the initiative (for the transfer of vaccines against coronavirus). And together with Unicef, Unilever and other organizations, we will work together to distribute these vaccines as soon as possible. And Ukraine is one of those countries that will be included in the first wave of the COVAX initiative," Ghebreyesus said.

He also said that, first of all, elderly people, medical workers and those who are in direct contact with patients with coronavirus will be vaccinated.

Ghebreyesus noted that such a COVAX initiative was created in order to provide all countries with vaccines and subsequently to avoid the re-spread of the coronavirus.

“Globally, the number of all vaccines exceeds the number of cases. On the one hand, this is a good and excellent achievement in such a short time. At the same time, more than 75% of vaccines have been administered in 10 countries, which account for 60% of the global GDP. And almost 66%, where 2.5 billion population live, do not have a single vaccine. So the population has a serious risk of transmission (coronavirus). We understand that all governments are trying to protect their own population, but most countries that have already vaccinated health workers and elderly people, can protect the world if they share their vaccines," Ghebreyesus said.

He stressed that the longer the global vaccination is carried out, the more likely the coronavirus will mutate.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the COVAX global initiative announced its intention to deliver 117,000 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and 2.2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Ukraine by July.

In turn, Deputy Minister of Health – Senior Medical Officer Viktor Liashko states that documents for the registration of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will be submitted in the near future.

It was also reported that in the first half of the year, starting in February, Ukraine will be able to receive from 2.2 to 3.7 million doses of the vaccine produced by AstraZeneca (Sweden-UK).