British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons emphasizes that the vaccines for the coronavirus disease COVID-19 Covishield and Oxford-AstraZeneca AZD1222 are identical, since the former is only the licensed name of the latter being produced in India.

"Vaccines: a fact-check. Covishield & Oxford-AstraZeneca AZD1222 COVID-19 vaccines are one and the same. Covishield is the name licensed for AZD1222 manufactured in India. Any suggestion that the AZ/Covishield vaccines being used in Ukraine differ in formula is categorically incorrect," Simmons wrote on Twitter Wednesday.

Earlier, on February 24, Kyiv received from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine 42,600 doses of vaccines produced by Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield), acting First Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Valentyn Mondrievsky said.

The plane with the first batch of Oxford/AstraZeneca (Covishield) vaccine landed at Boryspil airport in the morning of February 24.

The drug Oxford/AstraZeneca is manufactured at the Serum Institute (India) and has a local (trade) name Covishield. It was registered for emergency use in Ukraine on Monday, February 22.

Earlier, it was also approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, and its use was granted by the United Kingdom, the European Union and India.

The vaccine was developed by Oxford University and the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca.

Ukraine received confirmation of deliveries of 2.2-3.7 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines under the COVAX mechanism in the I-II quarter of 2021. In addition, this vaccine will be purchased at public expense directly from the manufacturers.

Ukraine has also entered into additional direct contracts for the supply of the COVID-19 vaccine, developed with the participation of AstraZeneca (UK-Sweden) and NovaVax (USA).