Quarantine in Ukraine: expanded list of professions subject to mandatory vaccination, police raids and early holidays

Nurses will be allowed to carry out vaccinations without a doctor present.

Ukraine will expand the list of professions subject to mandatory vaccination, and the National Police will begin conducting surprise raids to monitor compliance with quarantine.

At the same time, the Emergency Situations Commission is urging local authorities to start autumn school holidays earlier than scheduled. 

Tightening quarantine in Lviv

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said that from October 18, new quarantine restrictions will be in effect in the city: children will go on holiday a week earlier, and cultural institutions may be visited only with a vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test.

All schoolchildren will be on autumn holidays for two weeks, until October 1. The same rules apply to music schools.

Public places will be allowed to operate only if staff are vaccinated and visitors' vaccination status is checked.

Police raids

Due to the worsening coronavirus incidence, law enforcement officers will conduct raids to monitor compliance with quarantine restrictions.

This decision was made on Wednesday, October 13, at a joint meeting of the Ministry of Health, the National Police and the State Service for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.

This primarily concerns transport, as well as shops, cafes, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Ihor Kuzin 
Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine

We currently have a difficult epidemiological situation in Ukraine, caused precisely by the Delta strain. It has already been registered in every region of Ukraine, and the situation is deteriorating quite rapidly.

As National Police chief Ihor Klymenko noted, against this backdrop, authorities should clearly identify those responsible.

Ihor Klymenko
Head of the National Police

For example, heads of motor transport enterprises or companies carrying out transportation of citizens, organizers of sports events, and those persons who bear administrative and sometimes criminal responsibility, in particular for violating epidemiological norms… The government, understanding that businesses that pay citizens' wages and fill the state budget must operate, allowed them to work even in the “red” zone. A mandatory condition for such work is confirmation by clients and staff of their COVID safety.

Permission for nurses to vaccinate without doctors

Ukraine plans to allow nurses and male nurses, in certain cases, to decide on vaccinating a patient without a doctor's involvement.

Nurses and male nurses who complete special training will be allowed to administer vaccinations. 

Junior medical staff will be taught to provide assistance in the event of serious urgent reactions to the vaccine, such as severe allergic reaction, loss of consciousness, and others.

The Ministry of Health notes that the patient will retain the right to choose: to agree to counseling and vaccination with the participation of a nurse or male nurse, or to consult a doctor before vaccination. 

In addition, a list of conditions and situations has been defined in which a doctor's conclusion on vaccination is mandatory.

The Ministry of Health assured that vaccination by junior medical staff is a common practice in many countries, such as the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, France and Israel. Meanwhile, in Austria and Belgium, medical students are involved in vaccinations.

In theory, involving additional staff could increase the pace of population vaccination.

Recommendation to start holidays earlier

The National Commission for Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergencies proposes that the Ministry of Education and Science send an official letter to move the start of holidays from October 25 to October 18.

Health Minister Viktor Liashko explained that this will allow “restraining the active epidemic process” currently recorded in Ukraine.

Viktor Liashko 
Health Minister of Ukraine 

We are now talking about bringing the holidays closer, and later we will look at the situation depending on the epidemiological picture. Either we will recommend extending them if there is positive dynamics, or we will make other decisions. The issue is that the educational process is linked to an increased number of contacts among the adult population.