A medical specialist wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) walks in the medical college building which was converted into the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ward of a local hospital in Lviv, Ukraine April 1, 2021. REUTERS/Roman Baluk
KYIV - Ukraine signed a contract with Pfizer for the supply of 10 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, significant help to the country facing a new spike of infections, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday.
"I am deeply grateful to @AlbertBourla that after our conversation he kept his word and did everything to help the citizens of Ukraine in this difficult time of the pandemic," Zelenskiy said on Twitter, referring to the Pfizer chief executive.
Ukraine expects the entire volume of Pfizer vaccines to be delivered in 2021, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said in a separate statement, without providing further details.
Ukraine has lagged behind other European countries and has so far relied on a single batch of 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from India received in late February and 215,000 Sinovac doses from China in late March.
Earlier on Tuesday, Stepanov said the country of 41 million urgently needed more vaccines as the number of daily infections is rising and could exceed 25,000 in coming weeks.
More than 47,000 coronavirus patients were in hospitals, which can provide 67,000 beds with oxygen.
"This is the limit - there is nowhere to increase further," Stepanov said.
Last Saturday Ukraine reported a new daily record of 20,341 cases and 5,186 people hospitalized.
Ukraine is tightening lockdown restrictions in the worst-hit areas as coronavirus cases have soared in recent weeks after a winter lull. The capital Kyiv imposed a strict lockdown from April 5, restricting public transport and closing all schools and kindergartens.
