Ukraine has signed a contract with U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer to supply an additional 10 million doses against coronavirus disease, Ukrainian Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has told President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

"After lengthy and difficult negotiations with Pfizer, we have reached an agreement on the supply of an additional 10 million doses. We signed the contract this night. That is, in total, we will receive 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine during this calendar year," Stepanov said.

The press service of the head of state said that according to the agreements, Ukraine will receive the first 500,000 doses under this contract in May-June 2021, 4.5 million doses in the third quarter (July-September), and the remaining 15 million doses in the fourth quarter of this year.

The conclusion of the agreement was made possible thanks to Zelensky's direct communication with Pfizer CEO Albert Burla. The president personally coordinated the process of negotiations on the supply of the drug to Ukraine, because today the demand for vaccines in the world significantly exceeds production. Therefore, the Ukrainian government used various tools to provide the country with a high-quality vaccine. In particular, the strategic communications of the President and the constant operational communications of the Ministry of Health made it possible to sign a contract and receive a high-quality vaccine in Ukraine in significant volumes.

Zelensky thanked the CEO of Pfizer for helping Ukraine during the difficult times of the pandemic and noted the efforts of the representatives of Ukraine who accompanied the signing of the contract.

"This is a truly remarkable result. Now the task of the state is to ensure vaccination of the maximum number of citizens. It is also necessary to more actively explain to people the importance of vaccination against COVID-19, because this is the only way to overcome the pandemic, return to normal life and forget about quarantines forever," the president said.