What Ukraine's first COVAX vaccine deliveries meant by 22 April 2021
A look back at the mid-April arrival of vaccine doses through the global COVAX initiative, as seen from 22 April 2021.
What had Ukraine's vaccination effort gained by 22 April 2021? Six days earlier, on 16 April 2021, the country received doses through COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing initiative.
As reported at the time, the first batch of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, Comirnaty, arrived in Ukraine on 16 April 2021 under the programme. The same day, Ukraine also received 117,000 doses of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine through COVAX.
What the deliveries showed
The arrivals meant that Ukraine was drawing on a shared international mechanism rather than relying only on separate supply arrangements. They also meant that two different vaccines were available to the country on the same day.
The Pfizer/BioNTech shipment was the first of its kind to reach Ukraine, while the AstraZeneca consignment came to a specific, reported size of 117,000 doses. Together, the deliveries marked a visible step in the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as of 22 April 2021.
