The President of the European Commission called on EU member states to donate part of their coronavirus vaccine to Ukraine.
“In addition to Covax, I have also asked our member states to donate part of their doses to Ukraine,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a video speech at a conference in Kiev on Monday. .
Covax is an initiative to provide equitable global access to Covid-19 vaccines and is led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization.
“Thanks to Covax, doctors and nurses in Ukraine will receive the first vaccines this month. Millions of other doses will arrive in Ukraine this summer, “von der Leyen said.” We will stop the pandemic only if we contain the virus in all our countries. We Europeans are all together in this, “he added.
The EU has been criticized for its treatment of vaccine implementation across the continent. Von der Leyen did not delve into what donations would mean for the bloc in Ukraine (a non-EU country).
More information about Ukraine: Ukraine has an approximate population of 40 million people. Eight million doses of the vaccine promised by the United Nations Covax program and up to five million doses of the Chinese vaccine CoronaVac are yet to be delivered. The country will begin the first phase of its Covid-19 inoculation program this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced during the conference.
The 43-year-old leader, who experienced mild symptoms of the coronavirus last year, said he was willing to inoculate himself to encourage other people to do the same.
“As with most world leaders, I am willing to show people by personal example that vaccination is important, that it is safe, that it is necessary,” Zelensky said.
Ukraine has recorded more than 1.2 million cases and more than 23,000 deaths from Covid-19.