Ukraine to receive Chinese vaccine within a month of registration

Ukraine will receive the vaccine produced by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech within 30 days after registration.

Health Minister Maksym Stepanov announced this during a press briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

"Thanks to Sinovac Biotech supplying the vaccine, we will receive 1.913 million doses of coronavirus vaccine. During the first delivery, 700,000 doses will arrive in Ukraine. We will receive them within 30 days after registration of the vaccine either in the country of origin or in other countries (USA, Great Britain, EU, Brazil, etc.)," he said.

"The company is to publish the results of clinical trials in Brazil on January 7. The vaccine is expected to be at least 70% effective. Negotiations with the manufacturer have been going on since September 2020. The Ukrainian pharmaceutical company "Lekkhim" signed the contract," the minister added.

According to Stepanov, the third phase of clinical trials was conducted in Brazil (13.06 thousand volunteers), Indonesia (1.6 thousand patients), and Turkey (1,325 thousand). The efficiency in Indonesia is 97%, in Turkey, 91%. According to the FDA recommendation, the effectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 should exceed 50%.

Minister added that all vaccines purchased at state expense would be free for all Ukrainian citizens.

Also, the head of the Ministry of Health added that the agency was in the last stages of signing agreements with other vaccine companies, and also intended to increase the number of vaccines supplied to Ukraine under the COVAX initiative.

To recap, Ukraine is going to purchase 1.9 million doses of the Chinese vaccine against COVID-19.