Ukraine's CoronaVac approval: what the registration meant for vaccination
A look back at the registration of a Chinese-made vaccine in Ukraine in March 2021, as reported at the time.
What did it mean for Ukraine when another COVID-19 vaccine received approval? By 12 March 2021, the country had registered CoronaVac, made by the Chinese manufacturer Sinovac Biotech. The registration was reported on 10 March 2021, and the approval was also noted in international accounts of the pandemic in Ukraine dated 9 March 2021.
The dates differ by a day across the reports, so the approval is best described as having come in the days immediately before 12 March. What is clear is the substance: CoronaVac was added to the vaccines that could be used in Ukraine.
The significance lay in the decision itself. Registration is the formal step that allows a vaccine to be used in the country, and in this case it applied to a product from a Chinese producer. It placed Ukraine among the countries in Europe's pandemic record that had granted approval to the Sinovac vaccine.
The reports say nothing about delivery dates, quantities or the start of vaccination with CoronaVac, so those questions remained open as of 12 March 2021.
