The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ukraine is an ongoing mass immunization campaign for the . Ukraine's vaccination program started on 24 February 2021 and from that day to 12 September 2021 18% of the adult population of Ukraine had been vaccinated against COVID-19. (About 44% of those vaccinated had been fully vaccinated. More than 10 million vaccinations: Lyashko assures that he has fulfilled his promise, Ukrayinska Pravda (8 September 2021)) On 7 January 2022, the Ministry of Health announced that 44.9% of the adult population had undergone a full course of vaccination.Nearly 45% of adult population in Ukraine fully jabbed against COVID-19, Ukrinform (7 January 2022) By 2022, the Ministry of Health plans to vaccinate 70% of the country's adult population, including 80% of the elderly.
Ukraine has used vaccines from four different manufacturers. As for November 3, 2021, 17.2% were vaccinated with AstraZeneca, 29.6% - Coronovac, 41.7% - with Pfizer-BioNTech, 11.5% - with Moderna. By late May 2022 Ukrainians were vaccinated with (only) Coronovac and Pfizer-BioNTech.
In March 2021, about half of the population did not plan to get vaccinated. In an August 2021 poll, 56% of Ukrainians did not plan to be vaccinated.
After the 24 February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian vaccination program continued, although on a much smaller scale with by late May 2022 50-60 thousand people being vaccinated in a week. By late May 2022, vaccination continued in all regions of Ukraine, except in Luhansk and Donetsk Oblast. In September 2022, a third dose of the vaccine was offered to everyone who had his last vaccination four months ago.
Background
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Ukraine in March 2020. In 2020 infections began to rise sharply from July which began to top 10,000 cases a day by November. In 2021 new infections and deaths started to break records by late October. By then a total of 2.8 million coronavirus cases and 64,936 COVID-19 related deaths had occurred in Ukraine.
Vaccination against COVID-19 in Ukraine started on 24 February 2021. Ukraine uses vaccines from four different manufacturers. Quarantine, tariffs and positions: how the government enters the autumn turbulence, (14 September 2021)
Public opinion
Skepticism towards vaccines in Ukraine was widespread prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to a 2019 survey, only 29% of Ukrainians said vaccines were safe. Vaccine skepticism is also significant among health workers in Ukraine, with about 40% being categorized as "vaccine hesitant" by UNICEF. In March 2021, about half of the population did not plan to get vaccinated against COVID-19 even if a vaccine were available.
According to a May 2021 poll by International Republican Institute and Sociological group "RATING" the cities Lviv, Vinnytsia, Sumy, Uzhhorod and Ivano-Frankivsk had the highest rate of people who want to be vaccinated. Most want to get the vaccine from COVID-19 in Lviv and Vinnytsia, and the capital grazes the rear, Ukrayinska Pravda (17 September 2021) The least interested in getting vaccinated lived in Mariupol, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Sievierodonetsk and Mykolaiv. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health in January 2022 Kyiv had the highest vaccination rate (over 71% of adults there had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine). In Kyiv Oblast, Poltava Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Sumy Oblast and Cherkasy Oblast more than half of adults had received at least one vaccination. The least vaccinated areas in Ukraine were Zakarpattia Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Chernivtsi Oblast and Volyn Oblast with less than 40% of adults vaccinated. (According to the ministry's figures in late January 2022 49% of the adult population of Ukraine received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Almost half of Ukrainians have been vaccinated at least once, Kyiv is among the leaders, Ukrayinska Pravda (25 January 2022))
On 15 June 2021, Razumkov Centre released a poll that stated 43% of Ukrainians did not intend to be vaccinated against coronavirus. The share of "anti-vaccinators" among Ukrainians has fallen by 8.5% since March, - Razumkov Center, (15 June 2021)
In August 2021 56% of Ukrainians polled by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation did not plan to be vaccinated. In the same poll 52% opposed mandatory vaccination against COVID-19. More than half of Ukrainians do not plan to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Poll, Ukrayinska Pravda - Life (13 September 2021) The same poll also revealed that 23% of those polled considered vaccination an effective means of protection against COVID-19. Only 23% of Ukrainians consider vaccination effective for the prevention of COVID-19. Poll, Ukrayinska Pravda - Life (13 September 2021) The most chosen effective methods of preventing coronavirus disease (according to the August 2021 polled Ukrainians) were "washing your hands after leaving the street" (54%), "keeping distance from others" (42%), "being attentive to their well-being and the health of others" (39%), and "wearing a mask" (36%).
Comparison with neighbouring countries On 13 September 2021 50% of the population of neighboring Poland was fully vaccinated, in Slovakia this number was 40%, in Turkey 47%, and in Moldova more than 21%. Ukraine needs to make more efforts to vaccinate the elderly - the World Bank, Ukrayinska Pravda (13 September 2021) On that exact same date 18% of the adult population of Ukraine had been vaccinated against COVID-19 (the number of vaccinations being 10,710,944).
Early November 2021 34.5% of the population of neighboring Romania was fully vaccinated and for Bulgaria this number was 23.04%.Morgues fill up in Romania and Bulgaria amid low Covid vaccine uptake, The Guardian (11 November 2021) The average fully vaccination rate across the EU was 65.2% at that time. On 22 November 2021 the (fully vaccinated) vaccination rate in Russia was about 37%.Russia's Putin Says He Got COVID Booster Shot, Radio Free Europe (22 November 2021) On 26 November 2021 the Ministry of Health announced that 42.4% of the adult population (of Ukraine) had received at least one vaccination against COVID-19 and 34.2% had undergone a full course of vaccination.
Vaccination program Start of vaccination Ukraine was offered the Sputnik vaccine, produced in Russia, but in February 2021 Ukraine refused to buy or register it, and since requires all people entering the country who have been vaccinated by Sputnik to take a COVID test.
Vaccination against COVID-19 in Ukraine started on 24 February 2021, We started with Pfizer, but ended up with nothing: in Ukrzaliznytsia I can't decide how to vaccinate employees, UNIAN (16 June 2021) but the tempo of vaccinating was extremely slow compared to other European countries. The main reasons are the lack of vaccines (none of the vaccines are produced in Ukraine), disinformation in social media about the effect of vaccines (according to an Atlantic Council analysis primarily by Russia-backed parties) and strong scepticism among the population. In the first quarter of 2021, only about 230,000 Ukrainians were vaccinated, which is 0.4% of the population.
According to the June 2021 planning of Health Minister Viktor Liashko, five million people would have to be fully vaccinated by the end of the summer. In fact only as late as September 16 this number was achieved
Summer 2021 Around mid-June 2021, 1.4 million first shots had been given, meaning 3.5% of the total population was partially vaccinated. Meanwhile, 0.6% (2,000 people) of Ukrainians had received the second dose and thus were fully vaccinated. In the first two weeks of June, more than 20,000 people were vaccinated in Ukraine every day. According to an investigation by , in June 2021 it was unclear at what date people could receive their second shot of the vaccine due to unstable and unpredictable delivery schedules. Another dose. Is there life between vaccine deliveries?, (16 June 2021) The Ministry of Healthcare assured that there would be enough vaccines for second doses. In June 2021, vaccination of civil servants, prosecutors and judges began, but no first dose had been given to people over the age of 60, people with chronic diseases (such as diabetes) and cancer patients.
On 15 June 2021, members of the (422 seats strong) Ukrainian parliament were vaccinated with the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, several MPs claimed that they had not been informed that they would be vaccinated with this particular vaccine. MPs were not told in advance which vaccine against COVID-19 they would be vaccinated - Osadchuk, UNIAN (16 June 2021) Deputies in the Council are vaccinated against COVID-19 with Pfizer vaccine, Ukrayinska Pravda (16 June 2021) According to the Speaker of the Vekhovna Rada, these vaccinations (which was reported to be provided to MPs, their assistants and staff) were carried out in accordance with the schedule of the Ministry of Healthcare. On 21 September 2021 Servant of the People faction member Mykhailo Radutskyi claimed that 50% of the MP's were unvaccinated. Equality march and the threat of a new lockdown. What was discussed on the air of "Freedom of Speech" on ICTV, (21 September 2021) From 14 to 20 June, 367,000 Ukrainians were vaccinated against coronavirus: 246,339 people received a first dose, and 121,654 people a second dose. Coronavirus: a record number of vaccinations were given in Ukraine in a week , Ukrayinska Pravda (21 June 2021)
On 23 June 2021, the number of people who had received a second dose exceeded 400,000. Ukraine has crossed the 400,000 fully vaccinated against COVID, Ukrayinska Pravda (24 June 2021)
On 12 July 2021 3,489,332 vaccine doses had been administered, 2,311,690 Ukrainians had received their first injection, and 1,177,642 their second (and they were considered fully immunised). In Ukraine, again the record of COVID-vaccinations - more than half a million per week, Ukrayinska Pravda (12 July 2021)
By 16 August 2021 4,793,100 people had been vaccinated, of which 2,791,305 people were fully immunized (after having had received two injections). More than 120,000 people have been vaccinated in Ukraine in a day, Ukrayinska Pravda (17 August 2021) 14 days later 5,359,417 people were vaccinated in Ukraine, of whom 5,359,415 had received the first dose, and 3,722,707 people were fully immunized after receiving both doses. 9 million coronavirus vaccinations have already been given in Ukraine, Ukrayinska Pravda (31 August 2021) On this August 30, 150,482 people were vaccinated against COVID-19: 50,690 people received a single dose, and 99,792 people their second.
(The next month) in the week from 6 to 12 September, 921,443 vaccines were inoculated into Ukrainians (on 12 September, 16,930 people received one dose and 28,218 people were fully immunized). In a week, Ukrainians received more than 900,000 vaccinations against COVID, Ukrayinska Pravda (13 September 2021) This making the number of vaccinations given in Ukraine, since 24 February 2021, 10,710,944. So 18% of the adult population of Ukraine had been vaccinated against COVID-19 by 13 September 2021. According to the official statistics of 6 September 2021, 7.6% of people over the age of 80 had received at least one dose of the vaccine, for people aged 40–59 this figure was slightly more than 19% and the most vaccinated group was people aged 18–19 years of whom 19.8% had received at least one dose of vaccine. On 14 September 2021 Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated that all of the country's adult population should be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the year.Ukrainian PM not ruling repeated vaccination against COVID-19 in 2022, Ukrinform (14 September 2021)