Over 29 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ukraine since it launched the vaccination program, the Ukrainian Health Ministry has said on Facebook.

"As many as 106,362 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 on January 11. Some 33,288 people received their first dose, 59,348 people received their second dose, 670 people received an additional dose, and 13,056 people got a booster dose," the statement said.

Since the launch of the vaccination program, 14,875,714 people have received their first dose, 14,098,896 have received both doses, 7,339 people have got an additional dose, and 41,141 people have received a booster dose. A total of 29,023,090 doses have been administered so far.

A total of 7,117 new coronavirus cases were identified in Ukraine on January 11.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-society/3383482-over-29m-covid19-vaccine-doses-administered-in-ukraine.html

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with support from USAID delivered 14 ultra-low temperature freezers for storage of Pfizer vaccines to Ukraine.

These freezers can simultaneously store up to 3 million doses of vaccines requiring ultra-low temperatures up to -86°C.

The national storage facility at the state enterprise UkrMedPostach of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in Kyiv will receive 10 freezers. The remaining four freezers will be delivered to Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lviv and Odesa for vaccine storage at the regional level for these and neighbouring regions.

"Our aim is to protect the people of Ukraine from COVID-19 to the maximum extent possible. Vaccines remain the only efficient way to prevent the worst outcomes of the virus. We are doing our best to ensure uninterrupted access to vaccines for everyone willing to get vaccinated. The additional freezers will help strengthen our capacity to respond to the pandemic," said Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Lyashko.

"Today’s announcement of new U.S. Covid assistance to Ukraine demonstrates yet another way that the U.S. continues to stand behind Ukraine in the global fight against this pandemic, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF and the WHO. These 14 new ultra cold chain freezers increase national capacity to safely store this lifesaving vaccine, and build on our support through UNICEF to supply more than 3,100 vaccine sites with cooling equipment,” said James Hope, USAID Ukraine Mission Director.

“UNICEF continues to support Ukraine in the cold chain upgrade to help increase storage capacity for COVID-19 vaccines. We are grateful to USAID who make this very important progress possible. Support with ultra-cold freezers comes timely since Ukraine expects large amounts of mRNA vaccines at the end of 2021- during 2022. Preserving vaccines at required temperatures ensures they don’t lose their potency thus providing the best protection from COVID-19 for the people of Ukraine. Once again, I would like to urge everyone to get vaccinated as soon as you can - if you still haven’t done so”, said Murat Sahin, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine.

In September 2021, UNICEF also delivered to Ukraine three ultra-low temperature freezers funded by COVAX.

https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/usaid-and-unicef-support-delivery-ultra-cold-freezers-covid-19-vaccines-ukraine

Ukraine will have enough COVID-19 vaccines for full vaccination course and booster doses.

"There will be definitely enough vaccines. Ukraine has contracts for supplies of 25 million Pfizer doses and 6.5 million CoronaVac doses in 2022. Another 10 million doses are to be received as assistance under the Covax Facility. That amount should be sufficient to administer shots to unvaccinated people and provide a booster dose," Deputy Minister of Health, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin told BBC News Ukraine in an interview.

He noted that a booster dose, according to recommendations, is made by Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines.

The Ministry of Health also estimates that between 300,000 and 400,000 people will receive a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccines in the near future.

"We expect 300,000-400,000 people [to receive booster shot]. And the focus will be on critical infrastructure and healthcare workers because these areas are crucial amid outbreaks. Such figures and coverage will allow hospitals and critical infrastructure facilities to function as the personnel will be protected," Kuzin said.

Since January 6, when the Ministry of Health announced the COVID-19 vaccine booster campaign, about 20,000 people have been vaccinated.

Kuzin noted that according to research, almost 60% of Ukrainians understand the need for vaccination. But some of them, he said, postpone shots.

As reported, the Ministry of Health expects to vaccinate at least 70% of the adult population of Ukraine against COVID-19 in 2022.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-society/3383135-kuzin-ukraine-has-enough-vaccines-for-full-course-and-booster-doses.html

KYIV (Reuters) - The number of new coronavirus infections in Ukraine has more than doubled over the past three days and reached 18,479 cases as of Jan. 20, the country's health ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry reported 12,815 cases on Jan. 19 and 8,558 cases on Jan. 18.

Ukrainian health authorities said they expected a new wave due to the Omicron coronavirus variant in late January and in February.

Following several periods of strict restrictions, the average daily number of coronavirus cases in Ukraine fell in early January to about 4,000 from more than 10,000 in early December.

Ukraine this month offered booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all adults, with the first case of Omicron detected in the country in December.

In the country of 41 million people, only 14.3 million have received two doses of the vaccines. Ukraine recorded 98,843 deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with a total of 3.8 million coronavirus cases.

https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-reports-sharp-increase-covid-064508632.html

The Ministry of Health has allowed the use of any vaccine registered in Ukraine for revaccination against COVID-19 (vaccination with a booster dose).

This follows from the text of the order of the Ministry of Health No. 26 of January 6, 2022 "On the implementation of the decision of the operational headquarters of the Ministry of Health to respond to the situation of the spread of infectious diseases that can be prevented by vaccination."

According to the text of the order, published on the website of the Ministry of Health, it is allowed to use any of the vaccines registered in Ukraine for revaccination.

According to the Register of Medicines, COVID vaccines from AstraZeneca, Sinovac Biotech, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson&Johnson are currently registered in Ukraine.

The text of the order does not indicate which vaccines should be given preference, respectively, you can choose any of those registered in Ukraine.

Revaccination, according to the order, is carried out no earlier than six months after the last dose of the primary vaccination.

This order also allows revaccination for all categories of the population over 18 years of age who do not belong to the priority vaccination group, provided that sufficient vaccines are available.

At the same time, the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, after studying the effectiveness of an additional dose of the vaccine, recommended revaccination with an additional (third) dose of people over 60 years of age with the CoronaVac vaccine.

This recommendation was based on an analysis of immunogenicity and efficacy data collected in several countries and was endorsed by the Director General of WHO.

As reported with reference to operational data as of January 17, more than 113,500 Ukrainians have already received a booster dose of vaccine against COVID-19. In particular, 532 people received a booster dose of the CoronaVac vaccine, 103,490 people received the Pfizer/Comirnaty vaccine, 608 people received the AstraZeneca vaccine, and 8,930 people received the Moderna vaccine.

https://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/792543.html