Ukraine to Receive over 8 million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses for Free

The Global Mechanism for the Coronavirus Vaccines COVAX Availability has officially approved Ukraine’s application for the COVID-19 vaccine and will provide more than 8 million doses for free. Viktor Lyashko, deputy minister of health, chief sanitary doctor of Ukraine, reported this.

“Ukraine has received official approval from COVAX for a COVID-19 vaccine. From now, besides the planned vaccine purchases from the state budget, Ukraine will receive more than 8 million doses of the vaccine for free,” Lyashko wrote.

Nowadays, activities to provide the arrival of the refrigeration equipment to the vaccination station as soon as possible are in progress.

The day before it was known that the World Bank had approved a $300 million loan for Ukraine’s project to modernise the social support system. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, about a million people in Ukraine appeared at risk of poverty.

As the World Bank’s press-service reported, the forecasts said that poverty in Ukraine could rise up 4% to about 23% by the end of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The provided funds will help Ukraine to finance urgent measures in the social protection field to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic impact. These measures provide for the emergency cash benefits to those citizens and households who lost their jobs or income sources as a pandemic’s result. The payments to low-income families will be executed under the current state social assistance program for low-income families. Besides, the loan will support the social protection system strengthening in Ukraine in the coming years, ” the World Bank said.

According to the agency, about 60% of Ukrainian citizens who appeared on the brink of poverty due to the economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak do not receive social assistance under any of the current social protection programs now.

Bohdan Marusyak