During a conference call, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy set the Cabinet of Ministers the task to prepare a separate program for the payment of UAH 1,000 to Ukrainian citizens aged 12-18, who fully are vaccinated against COVID-19, under the ePidtrymka program.
According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, more than 6.7 million Ukrainians have already applied for UAH 1,000 of state aid under the ePidtrymka program initiated by the President.
According to him, the aid money is currently being paid by eight partner banks, and another 15 financial institutions are to join the program. A total of UAH 6 billion has already been transferred to the relevant accounts of Ukrainians. Under the program, the citizens spent UAH 1 billion, of which 35% was spent on books (the share of spending on movie theatres is 29%, railway tickets – 13%, theaters – 12%, sports clubs – 7.5%, etc.). The procedure for introducing the item "medicine" into the program for fully vaccinated people aged over 60 years is being developed.
"Currently, 14.8 million people in Ukraine have been vaccinated against COVID-19, of which 13.98 million with two vaccine doses. On January 9, the possibility of booster vaccination was opened. And to date, 20,000 people have got an additional vaccine dose," the Prime Minister said.
Shmyhal added that the government members also plan to be vaccinated with a booster dose.
Health Minister Viktor Liashko reported on steps to combat the spread of the Omicron virus variant.
The head of the Cabinet of Ministers said that the COVID-19 incidence rate continues to be on the rise, in particular, today, the number of patients is 92,300 people, of whom 14,700 are hospitalized.
The need to encourage the rural population to be vaccinated was also noted at the meeting, in particular, the Ministry of Health plans to organize about 800 mobile teams that will move to villages to ensure the availability of vaccines for the local population.
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine Iryna Vereschuk said that testing and vaccination points operate at the Chonhar and Kalanchak checkpoints, and only a testing point open at the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint. The President stressed the need to organize the possibility of getting vaccines at the Stanytsia Luhanska checkpoint.
In addition, the participants discussed a set of measures to increase the salaries of health workers. The President stressed the need to organize a hotline for doctors and the Ministry of Health to monitor the issue of salaries in the regions.
The leadership of the National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine also reported on steps to combat the forgery of COVID-19 vaccine and test certificates. In January, the National Police opened 91 criminal cases, 60 of which are related to forging papers. Some 29 charge notices were handed over, 50 indictments were sent to court.