The best answer to coronavirus is vaccination, not lockdown – Zelenskyi

In Ukraine, it's necessary to increase the rate of vaccination, because it is the solution so that there's no greater increase in patients.

Zelenskyi noted this at a conference call, the Office of the President reports.

To this end, he suggested involving mobile teams and resources from agencies other than the Ministry of Health and responding more carefully to cases of misinformation about vaccinations.

"The best answer to today's increase in coronavirus infections is vaccination, not lockdown. It is the solution so that there's no greater increase in patients. We're approaching mid-March, and we should provide more opportunities for people to receive the first doses of the vaccine, especially if they're working on the front and fighting against the coronavirus," Volodymyr Zelenskyi said.

The Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov drew attention to closer cooperation with the heads of regional state administrations.

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that the agency had prepared 50 mobile teams to help take part in the vaccination.

According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, compared to the previous week, the number of hospitalizations for coronavirus patients increased; almost 21,000 against 17,600. Today, 29,573 beds are occupied. A total of 70,157 beds have been allocated for COVID-19, of which 60,000 are supplied with oxygen. The number of occupied resuscitation beds also increased from 1.5 thousand to 2 thousand.

It means that the number of serious cases is increasing, according to the head of government.

"Adaptive quarantine continues to operate in Ukraine. In areas with a significant spread of coronavirus disease, we have introduced a red level. These are Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zakarpattia and Zhytomyr regions. Also, almost 10 regions are in the orange zone and are close to the red level," Denys Shmyhal stressed.

In addition, the Ministry of Health reported a stabilization of the situation in Prykarpattia. Maksym Stepanov also added that he continued to actively negotiate the new batch of COVID-19 vaccines for Ukraine.