A first batch of bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV) in the amount of 1.378 doses bought by UNICEF has arrived to Ukraine and soon it will be distributed among the regions, Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister for European integration Oksana Syvak told reporters on Monday.
"In September we received a first batch of bOPV in the amount of 1.378 doses. By Friday [September 30] it is to be shipped to the regions," she said.
In turn, Head of the program and project department at Health Ministry Serhiy Platov recalled that UNICEF bought 2.755 million bOPV doses for Ukraine.
"It is enough to vaccinate all children – the scheduled vaccination and for those who failed to be vaccinated on time," he said.
Platov said that the switch to bivalent polio vaccine is not manipulation. It is part of the global initiative finished in April 2016 in many countries.
He said that after the approval of the bOPV replacement strategy all trivalent OPV in Ukraine was disposed.
He said that in the period from 2008 until 2016 the fall in vaccination was recorded.
"As of 2015, only 18.6% of children were vaccinated, instead of 60-63%. This resulted in an outbreak of poliomyelitis," he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in May 2015 decided to replace tOPV by bOPV gradually until 2020. The Ukrainian Health Ministry in March 2015 approved the procedure for transfer to bOPV.
