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Coronavirus pandemic

Ukraine lagging behind all of Europe in COVID-19 vaccinations, expert says

According to former Deputy Health Minister Pavel Kovtonyuk, a new coronavirus wave is likely to emerge this autumn

KIEV, August 26. /TASS/. Ukraine’s situation with mass vaccination has become the worst in Europe, therefore, the country is likely to face a new COVID-19 wave in autumn, co-founder of Ukraine’s Public Health Center, former Deputy Health Minister Pavel Kovtonyuk stated on Thursday.

"Ukraine registered the highest level of those unvaccinated in Europe. Therefore, a new coronavirus wave is likely to emerge this autumn. <...> Some countries, which have a lot more inoculated citizens, have another experience, however, [the COVID-19] outbreaks still occur there among the unvaccinated people, even if their number is small. We currently have the largest share of the non-vaccinated population in Europe, so we definitely will not avoid an outbreak," Kovtonyuk said on the air of Ukraine’s Public Radio.

According to the ex-minister, "for those immunized, the quarantine conditions should be different since these people are protected. If we speak about, for example, organizing events or public places that can be visited only by people with vaccination certificates, then the risks of COVID-19 spreading will be very low," Kovtonyuk mentioned.

Ukraine launched its mass vaccination on February 24, being one of the last countries in Europe to do so. In early April, the Health Ministry planned to inoculate 70% of the country's adult population by late 2021. According to the latest data, as many as 3,310,320 people have received both jabs, while some 5,152,290 citizens have only had the first one.

Ukraine uses vaccines developed by the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, the American company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, the Chinese Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac jab, the American Moderna vaccine as well as the American Janssen manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.

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