Ukraine will receive another 1.9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in the nearest future
To fulfill the task of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ministry of Health has signed a contract for the supply of the Sinovac Biotech vaccine against the respiratory disease COVID-19 caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 to the territory of Ukraine as soon as possible.
The Ministry of Health has been negotiating since September 2020. The difficulty in negotiating is due to fierce global competition for truly high-quality and safe vaccines. All civilized nations of the world, without exception, are trying to agree on the purchase of such a vaccine in conditions when reliable manufacturers can not yet fully meet the global need.
Sinovac Biotech is the largest Chinese vaccine company. It annually produces 300 to 500 million doses of vaccines, which are approved in 34 countries. The company has developed and launched vaccines against hepatitis A and B, influenza viruses, including bird flu, and mumps. The decision to purchase the Sinovac Biotech vaccine against COVID-19 in the amount of 50 million doses has already been made by Turkey in particular.
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.
Volodymyr Zelensky noted that the contract was signed with an experienced vaccine manufacturer.
The main thing is that we conducted a very active multi-month negotiation work and got a concrete result. In a short time we will start a large-scale state vaccination programme. We desperately need to protect the most "risky" social groups, and the state will definitely fulfill this task
Volodymyr Zelensky
Sinovac Biotech (CoronaVac) is an inactivated vaccine that is given in a syringe and stored at a temperature of +2 to +8 degrees Celsius. Clinical trials in different countries, according to the results of intermediate data, showed the effectiveness of the drug 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 coming to an end, with intermediate results expected on January 7, 2021.
Accordingly, in January next year it is planned to obtain a permit for the use of the drug in China and other countries, and the vaccine will be submitted for retraining to the WHO in February 2021.
An agreement on supply to the territory of our country has been signed with the Ukrainian pharmaceutical company JSC Lekhim, 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 1,913,316 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 one of the competent authorities of the United States, Great Britain, Swiss Confederation, 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, under which our country is guaranteed to receive 8 million doses of the vaccine free of charge.
Ukraine is continuing an active negotiation process with all reliable manufacturers in order to increase Ukrainians' access to an effective and safe vaccine.
