Pandemic in Ukraine: Unvaccinated Staff Suspended from November, First Fine for School Operating Anyway and Forecast of Up to 30,000 Cases a Day

Passengers of intercity transport will also be liable for lacking COVID certificates.

In Ukraine, a school director was fined for the first time for operating the school even though the required 80% of staff had not been vaccinated against COVID-19, passengers of intercity public transport will pay fines for lacking COVID certificates.

Meanwhile, a new wave of coronavirus is gaining record momentum in Ukraine — around 30,000 new coronavirus cases a day are forecast in the coming weeks, while in two weeks unvaccinated civil servants subject to mandatory vaccination will begin to be suspended from work.

We explain more about this and other latest news on the pandemic in Ukraine in this article.

Suspension of the Unvaccinated

Starting November 8, Ukraine will begin suspending from work education employees and officials who do not have COVID-19 vaccinations. 

Without vaccination, all education sector employees and certain officials will not be allowed to work, except those with absolute contraindications to COVID-19 vaccination.

Such workers must provide a medical certificate of contraindications to COVID-19 vaccination issued by a medical institution.

Workers and civil servants are suspended from work by order of the manager. During the suspension, the employee also does not receive wages.

An employee or civil servant may return to work only if vaccinated against COVID-19.

First Fine for a School Director

In Lviv, a court fined the director of a private school-gymnasium 34,000 UAH for violating quarantine.

The director allowed classes at the gymnasium where 80% of staff were not vaccinated. 

The ruling of the Halytskyi District Court of Lviv of October 13 states that the director of the St. Sophia School-Gymnasium violated quarantine requirements set by a Cabinet of Ministers resolution. She allowed the educational process (in-person teaching) without mandatory vaccination of 80% of staff.

The court ordered the head of the educational institution fined 34,000 UAH. She must also pay a court fee of 454 UAH.

The director did not attend the court and did not report the reasons for her absence, although she had received notice of the place, date and time of the hearing.

Forecast of 30,000 Cases a Day

Analysts at the Kyiv School of Economics forecast that Ukraine could soon record 30,000 COVID-19 cases daily. Peak load on the healthcare system is expected in early November.

They said the number of detected cases will depend on the level of testing. According to Yuriy Ganichenko, head of the Center for Health Economics at the Kyiv School of Economics, new maximum incidence figures are expected within a week.

Yuriy Ganichenko
head of the Center for Health Economics at the Kyiv School of Economics

Looking at what to expect by the end of 2021, 30,000 detected cases a day is an absolutely realistic scenario for Ukraine. The peak load will fall in the first half of November.

According to Ganichenko's forecast, from this week regions will move more actively into the "red" zone, which in turn should restrain the incidence rate.

He also suggested that up to 7,000 people a day could be hospitalized in Ukraine.

Yuriy Ganichenko

Right now we are approaching five thousand on weekdays. As for whether the current oxygen beds and intensive care beds will be enough, with such a load, up to seven thousand hospitalized a day, with additional allocation of beds at least to the level seen during the spring wave, the healthcare system in Ukraine should be able to cope.

He also said that the number of deaths from coronavirus will rise by the end of 2021. "Under different scenarios we expect up to 92,000 deaths — this is the figure since the start of the pandemic," the expert said.

Currently, the highest number of cases and deaths in Ukraine was recorded on October 21 — 23,785 patients and 614 deaths. 

Liability for Lacking a COVID Certificate in Intercity Transport

Responsibility for having a document on vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test during trips by road transport between regions, except for passenger cars, lies with passengers.

The Ministry of Health's innovations apply to regular and irregular transport services in interregional and international traffic.

This rule does not apply to transport by passenger cars if there are no more than 5 passengers there (not counting children under 14).

At the same time, a larger number of passengers is allowed provided they are members of the same family.

"At the same time, the carrier is obliged to inform passengers that they must have one of the required documents," the Ministry of Health added.

For rail and air transport, the carrier is responsible for passengers having the relevant documents.

"The rule on having a document on vaccination or a negative test result still does not apply to minors," the agency said.

Lacking a vaccination or negative test document, a passenger faces liability under Article 44-3 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, the Ministry of Health reminded.

This means a fine of one to two thousand non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, that is, from 17,000 to 34,000 UAH.

Ukraine in the Global Top 3 for Infection Rates

According to the Worldometers monitoring service, on October 25 Ukraine took third place in the world for detected cases, behind only Russia and the United Kingdom.

1.5 Million Vaccinations in a Week

Over the past week, more than 1.5 million vaccinations were given in Ukraine, and the total number of vaccinations is approaching 16 million.

Since the start of the vaccination campaign, that is since February 24, 15,955,360 vaccinations have been given, and 8,965,694 people have been fully or partially vaccinated.

8,965,692 people received the first dose of the vaccine, and 6,989,668 people received both doses.

The Ministry of Health notes that 95% of those hospitalized with Covid-19 last week were unvaccinated.

Mobile Hospital in Kherson Region

In the city of Kakhovka in Kherson region, a mobile hospital of the State Emergency Service has been deployed to receive coronavirus patients.

"The hospital consists of 35 tents and modules, 24 of which are patient wards and an intensive care unit. It is autonomous, equipped with electric generators, heat guns and lighting towers," the State Emergency Service reported.

The hospital will operate on the premises of the Kakhovka Central City Hospital named after the Pankeyev family.

It will increase the hospital's capacity by 120 beds for coronavirus patients.