Ukraine is considering the possibility of producing covid vaccines: deadlines

Ukraine is considering releasing coronavirus vaccines, such as CoronaVac or mRNA vaccines.

Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Ihor Kuzin announced this to TSN, zn.ua reports.

"There are several agreements on different vaccines, foreign partners are interested in localizing production in Ukraine. Shortly, we'll receive information about the actual localization. The fastest option may be the production of inactivated vaccines, such as CoronaVac or mRNA vaccine because the cycle is relatively simple. By the end of this year, we'll receive a shortlist of structures or pharmaceutical companies that are ready to localize or even complete restructuring their technological lines," Kuzin said.

He also stressed that there was a WHO requirement to retrain not only the drug itself but also the site where it will be manufactured. This procedure will take about a year.

The chief state sanitary doctor noted that the state budget provided UAH 100 million for creating a program that will gradually restore domestic biotechnological production. By the end of the year, they plan to present several prototypes of domestic test systems.

In addition, according to Kuzin, negotiations are underway with other pharmaceutical companies to localize the production of influenza vaccines in Ukraine.

"It could be Chinese or other countries' production. Such negotiations, I know for sure, have passed and ended. Now we're discussing the technical details. However, I'm sure that this year we'll see a Ukrainian-Chinese production localization project. Now the final stage is underway. The vaccine will be registered. In fact, it's a joint production on the territory of Ukraine," Kuzin said.