In Ukraine, more than 40% of adult citizens have already received a full course of vaccination against COVID-19. In January 2022, the list of goods and services that can be purchased for UAH 1,000 provided by the state to every Ukrainian who has received a full course of vaccination will be expanded. This was discussed at a conference call chaired by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Starting from December 19, fully vaccinated Ukrainians will receive one thousand hryvnias. They will be able to spend these funds on the spheres most affected by the pandemic - gym, cinema, museum or concert, buy a train or plane ticket, buy books. At the same time, after listening to the wishes of our elderly citizens, for whom maintaining health is important, especially in a pandemic, it was decided to add medicines to the list of available goods," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Head of State expressed confidence that such a step would increase the number of vaccinations against COVID-19 among the elderly, as well as contribute to the treatment and prevention of other diseases.
Currently, the Ministry of Digital Transformation is finalizing the technical possibilities to make the purchase of drugs for vaccination funds available from January next year.
In total, according to Health Minister Viktor Lyashko, today Ukraine has surpassed 40% of adults vaccinated: out of 14.1 million, 12 million have received two COVID-19 vaccinations.
However, Viktor Lyashko noted that the rate of vaccination has been declining over the past two weeks.
In this context, the President stressed the need to intensify vaccination, because despite the improvement of the epidemic situation in the country, weekly incidence rates remain high.
According to the government, 61,000 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in Ukraine last week. Today there are almost 300,000 active patients.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reminded that since December 7, nine regions have left the "red" zone, and now Vinnytsia region meets the criteria for leaving it, so the issue of its transfer to the "yellow" zone will be considered.
Also, in order to minimize the risks for patients with COVID-19 among citizens over the age of 60, the standards of medical care for COVID-19 disease were amended and the criteria for hospitalization of this category of patients were expanded.
Given the approaching Christmas and New Year holidays, the relevant orders of the Ministry of Health and the Chief Public Health Officer on anti-epidemic measures during the operation of ski resorts were adopted. Denys Shmyhal also said that anti-epidemic measures had been developed separately during large-scale mass events.
According to the National Security and Defense Council, the epidemic situation in our country during the holidays should be stable. A new strain of coronavirus, Omicron, is expected to appear in Ukraine this week. But the results of the first studies in the countries where it has already been detected, indicate a milder course of the disease, said Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov.