The authorities must stop complacency and honestly admit that Ukraine is entering the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was emphasized by Deputy Chairperson of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk during the Conciliation Council of Deputies' Factions and Groups.
According to her, Ukraine is again among the leaders in Europe in the number of infected, and mortality, unfortunately, is also high. Olena Kondratiuk clarified that this situation is typical not only for our country. Thus, German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently officially announced the beginning of the third wave of the epidemic in Germany. The third wave was also announced by the Polish government, which is forced to resort to new lockdowns.
"Against this background, the situation in Ukraine looks very threatening. The meager pace of vaccination, which began with a significant delay, will not stop the third wave. Where countries do tens and hundreds of thousands of vaccinations every day, seven days a week, almost around the clock, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine reports only about 90 vaccinations this Saturday. A little more than 3,000 citizens have been vaccinated," the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament emphasized.
According to Olena Kondratiuk, this state of affairs testifies to the failure of the medical system's preparation for the vaccination campaign, distrust, even among physicians, to the vaccine brought by the Minister of Health of Ukraine from India, and, moreover, the failure of the communication campaign.
"Therefore, I demand an immediate report from the Minister of Health Maxim Stepanov during the hour of questions to the Government. He must explain which vaccine he brought, how much it costs, whether it was purchased directly or through intermediaries. The Minister should finally announce the proven effectiveness of this vaccine as a percentage," Olena Kondratiuk said.
Also, in her opinion, today there is a great lack of personal examples of vaccination from the country's leadership and famous people that would increase the level of confidence in immunization.