Ukraine to receive 1.8 million doses of Chinese COVID-19 vaccine: Ministry of Health signed a contract

To fulfill Zelenskyi's task, the Ministry of Health has signed a contract to supply 1.8 million doses of covid vaccine manufactured by Sinovac Biotech to Ukraine as soon as possible.

The Office of the President reports.

The Ministry of Health has been negotiating since September 2020. The difficulty in negotiating is due to fierce global competition for high-quality and safe vaccines. All civilized nations of the world, without exception, are trying to agree on the purchase of the vaccine in conditions when reliable manufacturers cannot fully meet the global need yet.

Sinovac Biotech is the largest Chinese vaccine company. It produces between 300 and 500 million doses of vaccine, approved in 34 countries, annually.

Ukraine will use the Sinovac Biotech vaccine to protect primarily those citizens who are at critical risk of infection and those who perform critical functions in the fight against the pandemic. Vaccination will be free.

Zelenskyi noted that the contract had been signed with an experienced vaccine manufacturer.

"In a short time, we'll start a large-scale state vaccination program. We desperately need to protect the most "risky" social groups, and the state will definitely fulfill this task," President said.

Sinovac Biotech (CoronaVac) is an inactivated vaccine, produced in a syringe and stored at a temperature of +2 to +8 degrees Celsius. Clinical trials in different countries have shown an efficiency of up to 97%. Thus, phase III clinical trials were conducted in Indonesia (1,600 patients, 97% efficacy), and Turkey (1,325 patients, 91% efficacy). Phase III clinical trials in Brazil are ending, with intermediate results expected on January 7, 2021.

Accordingly, in January next year, it's planned to obtain a permit for using the drug in China and other countries, and the vaccine will be submitted for requalification to the WHO in February 2021.

The supply contract has been signed with the Ukrainian pharmaceutical company JSC Lekkhim, which, according to the official confirmation of Sinovac Biotech, is the only authorized representative of the vaccine manufacturer in Ukraine. We are talking about the purchase of 1,800,000 doses at a price of UAH 504 per dose.

Under the terms of the agreement, the first batch of the vaccine in the amount of 700 thousand doses will be delivered to Ukraine within 30 days after official registration in China, or by one of the competent authorities of the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Canada, Israel, India, Mexico, Brazil, or under a centralized procedure by the competent authority of the European Union.

Such supplies will be made separately from the COVAX mechanism, which guarantees our country 8 million doses of the vaccine for free.