KYIV, March 9 - Ukraine has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac, Reuters reported Tuesday citing the health ministry.

Ukrainian pharmaceutical company Lekhim - one of Sinovac’s partners - has an agreement with the manufacturer to deliver 5 million doses of the vaccine in Ukraine, including 1.9 million via a state procurement scheme.

Lekhim said last month it had submitted documents seeking approval for the shot, while a senior ministry official said last week that authorities would impose financial penalties on the company over delays in delivering it.

Ihor Ivashchenko, the deputy health minister, said earlier this month that Ukraine will impose financial penalties on Lekhim over delays in delivering Sinovac vaccines.

Ukraine expected to receive the first 700,000 doses within a month of the vaccine being approved in China on Feb. 6.

The government had turned down a request by Lekhim to be allowed to delay the shipment schedule and change the way the vaccine’s efficacy was measured.

Ukraine had stipulated that Sinovac had to have an efficacy rate of at least 70%.

Sinovac’s vaccine efficacy rates have varied in testing across several countries. Results from trials in Brazil found the vaccine to be only 50.65% effective but more recent data from Turkey this week pointed to an efficacy rate of 83.5%.

Ukraine, one of Europe’s poorer countries, has lagged behind many of its neighbors in securing vaccines for its 41 million people, asking European Union states for help while refusing to buy Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.

Ukraine started COVID-19 vaccinations in late February but only 19,118 first shots had been given by March 9.

Health Minister Maksym Stepanov earlier on Tuesday urged regional authorities to speed up inoculations, voicing concern over the appearance of the variant first identified in Britain.

Ukraine has reported more than 1.4 million coronavirus cases with 27,204 deaths.

“All options are possible,” said an MPU representative when asked about whether the vaccine would be approved.

Ukraine started its vaccine rollout last month, but a resurgence in coronavirus cases in the country of 41 million prompted the government this week to warn of a possible return to a hard nationwide lockdown. (rt/ez)