The Minister of Health of Ukraine, Viktor Lyashko, expressed hope that already this year regulatory mechanisms will become effective, which will allow vaccination against influenza to be carried out directly in pharmacies. He announced this during the conference “European integration of Ukraine: health care”, transmits Interfax-Ukraine.
Lyashko noted that this will be a significant step in the implementation of the European practice of providing medical services.
“I hope that this year it will be possible to get vaccinated against the flu at the pharmacy, where you bought the vaccine, instead of going to a medical facility for it. This is a common practice in all EU countries, a typical example of European integration processes.”, the minister said.
At this moment, Lyashko himself has not yet been vaccinated against the flu, but he promised to do so after the necessary regulations are in place. He also mentioned that he was delaying his own vaccination in protest against the bureaucratic obstacles that were delaying the implementation of this reform.
“At the staff meeting, when yet another bureaucratic thing prevented the reform from starting, I said that I will not get vaccinated until you make regulations that allow you to get vaccinated against the flu in a pharmacy”, – said the official.
As Oleksandr Zaika, the head of the National Program on Immunization, reported earlier, in September 2024, almost 300,000 doses of influenza vaccine arrived in Ukraine, which have already passed laboratory control and are available for sale in pharmacies. The cost of the vaccine is over 400 hryvnias, and it provides protection against both influenza type “A” and type “B”.
Currently, free vaccines are only available to healthcare professionals.
We will remind that in February 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers adopted a resolution that allows pharmacies to carry out preventive vaccinations. This service can be provided only by those pharmacies that have medical offices and a license to practice medicine, as well as a license to retail drugs.
