Ukraine disposes unused coronavirus shots as medical workers skip vaccinations

A Ukrainian lawmaker has said that COVID-19 vaccines had to be disposed after doctors failed to show up for the vaccination drive undertaken by the government.

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Ukraine's health minister Maksym Stepanov took the AstraZeneca coronavirus jab on Monday as the country's health ministry said that only 3,000 medical workers had received the coronavirus jabs during the first five days of the vaccination campaign. 

Ukraine had kicked off its vaccination drive for 40 million citizens last week as authorities were criticised for the slow rollout. The country had received the first 500,000 doses last month.

"This is very bad, but there is no other option... if a person does not come, it (vaccine bottle) can be kept open for 2-3 hours, after which it must be disposed of," Mykhailo Radutskyi, the head of parliament's health committee said.

There is widespread scepticism in the country over the vaccine including among medical workers who are first in line to get vaccinated. Amid the slow rollout, the lawmakers had asked the health minister to present a report in Parliament.

Ukraine has recorded over 1.3 million coronavirus cases with more than 26,000 fatalities.