Ukraine Receives 1st Batch Of Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccines Via COVAX Facility

KIEV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2021) A plane carrying the first batch of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine comprising 117,000 doses arrived in Ukraine on Friday, as broadcast by the Ukraina 24 channel.

The plane is currently being offloaded. The doses, dispatched through the COVAX global facility, will be sent to a warehouse for further distribution.

"Tomorrow, 29,500 doses will be distributed among all regional warehouses, and on April 18, the first inoculations will begin. The first Pfizer shots will be administered in nursing homes," Deputy Health Minister Viktor Liashko said at a briefing.

Half of the 117,000 doses will be used on the first shot and the other half on the second shot of the double-dose vaccine, the Ukrainian official added.

Apart from the Pfizer vaccine, Ukraine's immunization campaign uses Covishield � the Indian-produced version of the AstraZeneca vaccine � and CoronaVac produced by China's Sinovac Biotech.