Ukraine to see first Pfizer lot on April 14 as COVID wave rolls

Ukraine’s Health Minister Maksym Stepanov claimed on
April 8 that the first shipment of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine should arrive on
April 14. Stepanov spoke about it on TV channel Ukraine 24, saying that the
shipment will contain 117,000 doses, and is part of the UN’s COVAX program.
Pfizer is contracted to send a total of 10 million doses of its vaccine,
acquired through various agreements, by year-end.

Also on April 8, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast
State Administration, Oleksandr Starukh, declared that the oblast was in “the
worst situation”. Online media pravda.com.ua reports that Starukh called it
“the worst Italian scenario”, in which the outbreak cannot be
contained. He stated that 75% of hospital beds there are occupied, and that
some hospitals are 100% full.

In Kyiv, mayor Vitaly Klitschko spoke on TV channel
1+1 on April 8 regarding the possibility of further quarantine restrictions if
numbers do not fall. In answer to a question regarding a curfew, Klitschko
replied that the Verkhovna Rada has the authority to impose one, not the
municipality. However, during an online briefing on April 9, Klitschko called
for a nationwide lockdown. Pravda.com.ua quotes him as saying, “How many more
people have to get sick, how many more to die for the government, the central
government to understand that immediate measures are needed at the state
level?!”

A poll released on April 9 by the Rating sociological
group shows that public support for a lockdown is growing, with 65% supporting
a “hard lockdown”, which is up 9% since March. Currently, 77% favor closing
restaurants and cafes, but only 30% are for closing intercity transport and 26%
favor closing local mass transit.

James Hydzik: The Cabinet is hiding behind the adaptive quarantine at a time when
halting travel between cities is needed to stop the current wave. The
reluctance of the state government to incur the wrath of the voters and,
essentially, dump the responsibility for protective measures on municipalities
and oblast governors, might be overcome. However, Mayor Klitschko’s question
stands.