The nation may face challenges if local vaccine production is not launched within three years.
The Ukrainian Health Ministry proposes a laboratory should be created as part of the Lev Gromashevsky Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases so that Ukraine could start developing its own vaccines.
Ukrainian Deputy Health Minister and Chief Medical Officer Viktor Liashko announced this during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and attended by heads of leading scientific institutions and institutes, the Ukrainian government's portal said.
Read alsoForeign universities allowed to open branches in Ukraine
The prime minister said that the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines globally had demonstrated the need for Ukraine to create its own laboratory.
"Nowadays, the whole world is queuing up for a vaccine, and it becomes obvious that Ukraine needs to have its own base for the development of vaccines. This is a strategic issue, since the construction of a modern facility under international standards will allow us to restore scientific potential and develop drugs to be protected against various diseases," Shmyhal said.
Liashko, in turn, said that the Health Ministry was considering the creation of a laboratory on the basis of the Lev Gromashevsky Institute of Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases.
"Simultaneously, there is a plan to create an open scientific space at the Institute, which will bring all scientists together for conducting research," Liashko said.
According to him, such an open cluster will give Ukraine an impetus to restore the production of immunologic agents, in particular for the treatment of cancer.
Following the meeting, PM Shmyhal instructed the respective agencies to work within two weeks on options regarding infrastructure and financing to create an advanced laboratory in Ukraine.